Tag Archives: FA Trophy

All time Har Low

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When I turned ten I was allowed to stay up until 9.30pm on School days. Not that there was much to amuse you during those early days of the Eighties. We only had three (THREE!) TV Channels to choose from, the Sinclair ZX80 with its 1KB of processing power and its £99.95 (£319 in today’s money) price tag was the gadget to dream of whilst we played Atari Pong, and Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall was the song on everyone’s radio…still. Thank God my brothers were unimaginative in hiding their copies of Razzle and Whitehouse under their mattress otherwise those long winter nights would have just dragged by.

Football on TV was restricted to Match of the Day on Saturday and The Big Match on Sunday tea time. Occasionally, we were also treated to extended highlights on Sportsnight, presented by Harry Carpenter, during the week if there was an England game on or some FA Cup replays. Back then the football authorities were sensible. None of this “we need 10 days to sort out replay days” malarkey. It was as simple as “if we draw on Saturday, we replay on Tuesday”…and if that one is a draw then we will toss a coin to determine where the 2nd replay will be two days later (or on some instances the 3rd and 4th replays).

In the 1979/80 season a little team from Essex surprised the footballing world by making it through to FA Cup First round. Harlow Town were celebrating their centenary and this was the furthest they had ever got in the cup. They were playing in the Isthmian Premier League at the time and hoped to draw a big league club such as Blackburn Rovers, Sheffield Wednesday or Portsmouth who all languished in Division Three and Four at the time. Instead they drew local rivals Leytonstone & Ilford FC – hardly the reward they were looking for. But after beating them they got a plum draw against Southend United who were dispatched 1-0 in a replay in front of 5,000 fans at Harlow’s Sports Centre (trivia fact: The Sports Centre was in fact the first sports centre to open in the UK back in 1960). With all ears pressed to the radio for the Third Round draw in early December, the club were drawn away at Leicester City. Continue reading →

Party seven in Leafey Surrey

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Hands up who knows why Whyteleafe FC hit the national headlines in 2010? Most leafiest ground?, Most “shhhh’s” from the neighbours when you leave the ground or how about the most NIMBY’s as fans?  None of these.  In fact many of you will be scratching your head right now wondering where such a slice of paradise actually is in our green and pleasant lands.  Well, in the words of Gary Barlow’s mate, let me entertain you.

The village of Whyteleafe has a population of just over 3,000.  It sits in a fertile valley with not one, or two but THREE railway stations.  Sheer greed and I bet the locals still moan when the leaves start falling on the lines.  Even Wikipedia have struggled to fill a page on the comings and goings of the village, resorting to telling us that the local vicar, Gill Reeves, normally conducts his sermon to a congregation of 30. Continue reading →

Trophy life

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Just when the excitement of the FA Cup peters out with the start of the competition proper, up pops the FA Trophy, the competition open for teams who play in steps 1 to 4 of the Non League pyramid. With the carrot of a game at Wembley at the end, it is not like the FA Cup where it is almost guaranteed that your Chelsea, Manchester United or Portsmouth will be enjoying a day out in London in May. In the past ten seasons seventeen different teams have competed for the Trophy including clubs from below the Conference National such as Canvey Island (twice), Hucknall Town, Burscough and Hednesford Town. In fact the last two winners of the Trophy, Barrow and Ebbsfleet United did so against teams who were themselves promoted to the Football League in the same season (Stevenage and Torquay United) proving that dogs do have their day in the sun.

Graham Yapp from the excellent Modus Hopper Random blog takes up the story from the edge of the Lancashire Moors as Northern League Division One club Mossley host Cheshire’s Nantwich Town from the league above.

Mossley have some history in this competition. reaching the final in 1980 when they beat Altrincham, Blyth Spartans and Boston United (all much bigger sides) before they lost 2-1 to Dagenham (before they found Redbridge down the back of the sofa). They had already enjoyed a good run in the FA Cup this season, bowing out eventually last Saturday to Blue Square Bet Premier League Darlington. Continue reading →

It’s like a Friday Night in Kenny Chow’s

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Let’s get one things straight….It’s not Ebbsfleet, it’s Gravesend & Northfleet.  Money may be able to alter the future but the past is past and the club now owned by a million people around the globe who sold out so spectacularly last year still represent my home growing up, and the venue of legends for a player in the Gravesend Under 12 league.  You see having been poached at such an early age by Milton & Denton I enjoyed years of success through boys and then youth football and the cumulation of most seasons was the Cup Final which was played at Stonebridge Road, home of Gravesend & Northfleet.

The club at the time bounced around the Alliance Premier League as it was called then, playing local derbies against Dartford in front of crowds of 4-5,000.  Then football changed and “the fleet” found themselves in the Southern League trying desperately to get back to the big time.  It took a bold move in switching divisions to the Rymans Premier League to get them back on track as with non-league legend Steve Portway scoring hatricks for fun in between cashing cheques still for NatWest.   In 2002 the club eventually returned to the Conference league after winning the Ryman’s league, holding off a strong challenge from Aldershot Town.

Since 2002 the club have sat firmly in lower middle table, not threatening anyone.  And then came three life altering events.  In the summer of 2007 Eurostar surprised the footballing world that they had agreed a sponsorship deal with the Fleet in recognition of the opening of the new Ebbsfleet station less than half a mile away from Stonebridge Road.  In return for a few first class tickets to Lille at Christmas, the club changed their name at the drop of a hat to Ebbsfleet United.

Six months later the club, with their fancy new name hit the footballing headlines around the world when they became the first ever club to be taken over by Myfootballclub.com, a consortium of football fans around the world who had clubbed together on the internet and raised just over a £1m by paying £35 each in exchange for a say in team affairs.  The original plan was to get all 3,000 members to vote on team selection, transfers and tactics but this has not happened, fortunately – the lunatics have not taken over this asylum YET!  As if the whole story was being covered by Boys Own Magazine or a story featuring Roy Race the club went onto to reach the FA Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium where they beat Torquay United 1-0.

I’d been a regular visitor in the past but not since the takeover in February 2007.  The last time I visited was when Barnet were the opposition, managed by Martin Allen in a 2-2 draw.  What amazed me at the time was the poor state of repair of the ground which was without doubt one of the ugliest in the top levels of English football.  It must have been one of the only grounds in the country that has power lines draping between two huge pylons across the ground.  There was no real main stand, just one covered seating area with 7 rows of seats, but even that nearly lost part of the roof when a ball landed on it.

So with West Ham playing on Sunday this week I took the opportunity of a short drive down to Gravesend to watch the game versus one of the most hated teams in Non-League football still, Rushen & Diamonds.  I’m not going into the whole history of Rushden’s formation but safe to say that the excessive investments made by Max Greggs and his Doc Martens company literally bought them the league and their passage into the Football League structure.  Promotion to the third tier soon followed, but as soon as Sugar Daddy Greggs pulled the plug on his investment the club slid down the league and two consecutive relegations saw them back in the non-leagues.  They may have the best stadium in the non-leagues nowadays but with crowds half of what they saw in the Football League the future for the club is bleak to say the least.

As I parked in the shadow of the new Ebbsfleet Eurostar stadium I was amazed by the fact that the outside of the ground still looked exactly the same as when I used to cycle past on my way up the hill to Swanscombe.  Oh, there was a small sign on the side of the roof proclaiming their Wembley victory in May 2008.  Paying my £13 took me into the ground and it was as if I was back at the Milton & Denton versus Riverview United in the Under 10′s Cup Final.  The small house that had been converted into the toilets were still there, as too was the catering hut, now selling Chilli and Chips and Jacket potatoes as well as the standard football fayre.  Nothing had changed.  The club shop was stocked to the brim of smart Nike made Ebbsfleet merchandise complete with Eurostar and AustrianAirlines logos but it was still the same old ground.  This is your traditional non-league stadium, although it was disappointing to see the Plough End had been converted into seats.

Ebbsfleet United 1 Rushden & Diamonds 0 – Stonebridge Park – Saturday 17th January 2009

How did he miss this one?

How did he miss this one?

Both teams came into the game firmly rooted in mid table in the Conference.  The home side needed the win more than the visitors, as they were sailing a little close to the bottom four of the league for the liking of the owners who were due to vote on whether they renewed their £35 per annum subscription in a few weeks time.

You got the impression when the two teams emerged onto the pitch that Rushden weren’t popular.  Whether that was because of the past histrionix between the two teams or the simple fact that the way they reached the Football League last time went against all that non-League teams stand for.  What was noticable though was that for a club that regularly had crowds of 5,000 plus a few years ago they had brought just 127 fans (I counted them twice to make sure – once in each half).  Where had all the fans gone?  Football in the south eastern midlands has hardly had a good time in the past few years and it was now a hot bed of Conference rivalries with Kettering, Cambridge and Histon playing local derbies against Diamonds.

The game was hardly a classic as both teams seemed intent on playing the ball long.  Ebbsfleet at least tried to pass their way around the pitch with Stacey Long and Luke Moore providing some width at times.  The one and only real chance of the half was at least converted as Long managed to beat the Rushden full back and his low cross was turned in by Neil Barratt in the 41st minute.

After the break Ebbsfleet pushed forward to try and get a second and somehow Michael Gash managed to hit the ball straight at the goalkeeper from three yards out in a chance that would have been easier to convert than miss.  After Rushen failed to take a few half chances the game exploded in the 83rd minute when Rushden fullback Simon Downer delivered a very late and high challenge on Ebbsfleet’s Simon Moore just in front of the benches.  Chaos ensued as the coaches, substitutes and one of the mascots piled onto the pitch to join in.  Stweards ran (well waddled) from both ends to try and restore order and it was clear that the referee had completely lost control.  He retreated to the centre circle with both linesmen and the fourth official before marching back over to the touchline and sent both coaches plus a couple of substitutes to the stand.  Great idea, but as I have already mentioned the Main Stand has all of 7 rows meaning these sinners ended up sitting some 10 yards from where they were previous.  Downer was of course red carded in the mayhem and can have no complaints.

Despite seven minutes of injury time played neither team could create a chance and with the wind gathering strength for a night of gales in south eastern England I headed off back to the car.  The win was much needed for their league form, but who could rule out a return to Wembley in May again?

About Stonebridge Road
On one side of the ground is an old looking wooden Main Stand. This single tiered covered stand, is all seated and runs for around half the length of the pitch. This stand has a fair number of supporting pillars running along the front of it, although the seating is raised above pitch level. There is also a tiny terrace in front of this stand. Entrance to the seated Main Stand is gained within the ground, on payment of a transfer fee (£2 per adult, £1 per concession). Opposite is a fair sized terrace, which has a simple rusty looking roof which covers the middle portion of it. One end is known as the Plough End, gaining its name from the pub that is situated just behind it. This is a former covered terrace (to the rear), that was made all seated in 2006. The stand looks quite picturesque with a wooded hill just beyond it. The other end, known as the Swanscombe End, is an open terrace, that is dominated by a huge electricity pylon which sits directly behind it. The Club Shop is located inside the ground.

The Club was formed in 1946, following the merger of Northfleet United and Gravesend United. It was renamed Ebbsfleet United in 2007.

*Thanks to Duncan Adams for the above information.

How to get to Stonebridge Road
The nearest station to the ground is Northfleet, which is only a few minutes walk away from the ground. The station is served by trains from London Bridge & Charing Cross. Just come straight out of the station and turn left at the top of the road. The ground can be then seen down on the right.

If you are drving then the A2 is the nearest main road. Take the exit for Ebbsfleet Station which is about a mile after the exit for Bluewater, and 2 miles east from the M25 junction. Follow the signs for the football ground and park in Car Park C at the new Ebbsfleet station which is a 2 minute walk away and costs £3.

How to get a ticket for Stonebridge Road
All ticket games are about as common as a warm afternoon here and it is nearly pay on the gate. Admission is £13 for Adults and £7 for children. For this you can stand anywhere in the ground or in the seats behind the Plough End goal. If you want to sit on the main stand you will need to pay an extra £2 to transfer.

A Christmas Card

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The FA Trophy, for those not in the know is the Non League FA Cup Final. It has been for many years the highlight in the calendar for the smaller teams and now it is back at Wembley Stadium, as opposed to Villa Park or The Boleyn Ground it has rediscovered its magic. The tournament started in 1970 and since that first final at Wembley when Macclesfield Town beat Telford, the trophy has been won by the likes of Wycombe Wanderers, Colchester United and Morecombe who have gone onto gretaer things. It has also been won by the likes of Enfield (on two occasions), Dagenham (before they wed Ms Redbridge), Wealdstone and Matlock Town who haven’t gone onto better things. In recent years the competition has been won by surprise outfits such as Burscough of the Unibond League, Canvey Island who are now in the Rymans and Hednesford Town. Last season Ebbsfleet United won the trophy for the first time in front of over 30,000 at Wembley.

As I missed out on my “road to Wembley” for the FA Cup run – failing to follow Grays Athletic to Carlisle was never going to be an option, I thought I might try it with the FA Trophy. I realise that the competition actually started on the 4th October when Marlow beat Cirencester but better late than never I always say, especially when I get the last train home after “only going for a swift half after work”. At the first round stage I decided to randomly pull a tie out of the hat to go to. On first attempt I got Durham City v Harrogate Town – er no…Second attempt was Workington Town v Kings Lynn which again was ruled out as being too far up north! Then I realised that the draw was regionalised and after sorting out anything north of Watford (well Birmingham actually) I drew out Woking, also for some bizarre reason known as The Cards.

Woking had been a club I had never been to – no real logic behind that as it was close enough to London to do after work and they had consistently played at this level for a number of years. They also had some history in the FA Trophy, winning it in 1994, 1995 and 1997. Woking are also one of those clubs that has challenged for a Football League spot on a number of occasions in the past decade, yet has always fallen short in the end. The past few seasons have seen a number of high profile coaches come and go including Glenn Cockerill, Frank Gray and more recently Phil Gilchrist. The problem the team had faced this season was simply a lack of goals, with some key players still ruled out through injury. However, they could take some hope from the fact that their opponents Salisbury City had been forced to off load a few more players since my visit to their rural home a few weeks before. They had recently lost at home to Woking in the Setanta Shield as well as the league meetings so came into this match with some trepidation of a hatrick of defeats to Woking.

It would be interesting to see what the crowd would be as the clubs are only separated by fifty or so miles. The Kingfield Stadium is certainly a much better place to watch games that Salisbury’s rural setting. The new main stand (situated behind one of the goals) is the focal point of the stadium but is one of the more impressive stands in the Blue Square Premier.

But as with all good plans I was thwarted by events out of my control – in this case the torrential rain that not only caused this game to be cancelled, but its subsequent re-arranged date meant my trip to Eastbourne on Tuesday was now off as well. This was a shame as I was looking forward to a afternoon out in Surrey. The club had been very helpful so far and that is always a good sign of a well run club (Paul the press officer even phoned me to tell me the game was off before I travelled), and I was also due to go and see Mr Grumble’s new baby as he lived close by. As always I have a plan B but this (Welling Utd v Weymouth) fell by the wayside, as did C (Chesham) and D (Bognor Regis). Amazingly Histon, with that dreadful pitch from Tuesday was still on. But I couldn’t justify another trip up the M11 so an afternoon of ironing in front of Jeff Stelling beckoned.

So Tuesday night beckoned and my original plan to see the little balding, grumpy ones (the one in nappies and the one who will be in them soon) fell by the wayside again thanks to an accident on the A3, so I headed up to Woking for 7pm and availed myself of some of the fine cuisine on offer.  Whilst the stadium really had the feel of a lower league club, the food was top notch and was well worth the early entry into the ground.

The ground…Well it is certainly unique!  The new very modern stand behind the west goal is certainly the focal point of the stadium, and would not look out of place in most top league grounds.  I am sure that somewhere within the club there is a vision to transform the stadium with three similar sized and designed stands, but finances are obviously very at the top of the agenda in the Non-Leagues.  Woking chairman David Taylor had been very vocal about the concept of regionalising the league even at this top level to cut down on the unnecessary costs teams are incurring.  There is alot of logic in this view, especially for those teams who decide to go part time.  In fact I would go back to my comments from last week when I said that there was no real reason why some lower league clusb could not compete on a part time basis.

Woking 1 Salisbury City 2 – The Kingfield Stadium – Tuesday 16th December 2008

Welcome to Non League cup football

Welcome to Non League cup football

This was never going to be a game to catch the local imagination.  A cold and dark midweek night, in the middle of the Christmas party season for a game that most fans did not care if it was won or lost.  However, the 500 brave souls, including the 67 from Salisbury who seemed happy standing around the portakabin toilets on the far terrace were treated to a game of high tempo, if at times low quality football.

You could not fault either side for their commitment from the first whistle.  Both sets of players tore into each other, determined to try and avoid a draw that would add further pressure to the already crowded fixture list.

After Woking went close in the 5th minute when a incicive run down the left flank was so nearly met by Denton in the penalty area.  The tall centre forward, on loan from Huddersfield Town was obviously miffed by this and shortly after took out his frustration on the Salisbury full back with a late challenge and saw the first yellow card of the night.  At this point I picked up the programme and saw an article about the Woking player Tom Hutchinson.  Wow – spooky!  Mr Hutchinson has been part of my Sutton United team on Football Manager for the PSP for three seasons now.  He is permenantly injured and will not leave despite being on the transfer list for most of this time (my predecessor had put him on a 5 year contract the fool).  I looked at the picture in the programme and realised it was the one and same guy sitting behind me helping out on the match commentry.  Now I had a dilemma, a dilemma where my virtual world meets the real world.  Should I say something about his fitness regime or just stay star struck?  In the end play moved on with me biting my tongue, forever in the knowledge that I could have changed destiny!

The remainder of the first half was played at the same pace without much quality, with chances few and far between.  Salisbury’s Ademeno went close with a smart turn and shot that was well saved but the main talking point of the half was when the referee decided to substitute himself on the half hour mark.  He showed no sign of injury or illness and was controlling the game well.  Personally I think that he was also a PSP FM08 player and could not compromise himself by refereeing his team.  Of course his replacement meant the fourth official took over, and the club had to make an announcement if there was a qualified ref in the house (which there wasn’t).

The half seemed to be drifting towards an end goal less, but from a rare Salisbury corner, centre midfielder Michael Fowler rose unmarked to head home.  The goal was against the run of play but that didn’t matter to the 66 Salisbury fans (I counted – one had definitely gone missing somewhere) who celebrated a rare away goal.

The second half started much were the first half left off with Woking controlling the midfield yet failing to get the ball into the penalty area.  Woking’s Quamina became the fifth player booked for a late challenge that may have seen him see red on other occasions.  However he soon fed the ball out wide and a decent cross for once saw Marum smartly head home to bring the scores level again.

Both teams seemed resigned to the draw and another match at some point before Christmas.  With a few seconds on the clock I took leave from the old wooden stand and made my way to the corner ready for a swift full time exit.  As I walked around the back of the club house there was a small ripple of applause, which I put down to a good tackle or pass.  I therefore waited at the corner until the ref blew for fulltime and the fans started to troop out, bemoaning the defending and “letting them steal it at the end”…so for the first time this season I had missed a goal.  I could pretend and say it was marvellous but the simple truth is I have no idea.  Salisbury’s Herring had scored the winner in injury time to take them through to a game versus Burton Albion or Farsley Celtic in round two.

About the Kingfield Stadium
The ground has an impressive and fairly new single tiered stand situated at one end of the ground. This stand, the Bellway Homes Stand, towers above the rest of the ground. At the other end is a small covered terrace, called the Kingfield Road End, whilst on one side there is a small open terrace. This terrace looks a little ugly as it has quite large warehouse type structures, sitting behind it. On the other side are a couple of small strange looking, covered seated stands, a portion of terracing to one side and some portakbins offices at the other end. However, one nice feature is the abundance of greenery, with lots of trees surrounding the ground.

How to get to the Kingfield Stadium
Woking train station is about a mile away from the ground and is around a 15-20 minute walk. The station is served by trains from London Waterloo. Exit the station on the opposite side of the station to the town (Station Approach/Oriental Road side). Turn Right down Station Approach and at the bottom, turn left onto Claremont Road (the A320). At the end of Claremont Road turn left on Kingfield Road and the ground is over the road on your right.

If you are driving then leave the M25 at Junction 10 and take the A3 towards Guildford. On approaching Guildford turn right onto the A320 towards Woking. On entering Woking turn right at the roundabout into Wych Hill Lane, towards Old Woking (A247). This road leads into the A247 Kingfield Road and the entrance to the ground is down on the right.

Thanks to Duncan Adam’s http://www.conferencegrounds.co.uk for the above details.

How to get a ticket for the Kingfield Stadium
With average attendances rarely breaking the 2,000 mark, and a capacity of doubel that, getting a ticket on the day of the match is not problematic. Prices are £15 for a seat in the main stand and £13 elsewhere. Prices are reduced for games such as the Setanta Shield or the FA Trophy matches.