Category: Non league football
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Dulwich Hamlet 0 Lewes 2
Saturday 28th October 2023 – The FA Trophy – Champion Hill, Dulwich Champion Hill is one of a few grounds, used at the semi/professional level where I can claim to have played at, and scored. However, like old Wembley Stadium (MPs XI vs The Football Trust at half-time as a photographer, circa 1997), it wasn’t…
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Don’t B-Leave the hype
Junior teams. Brentford are one of the growing number of professional clubs that has abandoned the concept of a traditional academy, putting focus and resource into their B team which is used as a recruitment vehicle for players who have been released at the end of that U23s season. They then invest time and resource…
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Ramsgate 0 Chichester City 0
Saturday 17th December 2022 3pm – The Isthmian League South East Division – Southwood Road, Ramsgate It had been a week like no other. I know we always say that when it is too hot, too cold or too wet but the sub-zero temperatures had decimated Non-League football up and down the country. Whilst there…
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Darlington 2 Kettering Town 2
Friday 2nd December 2022 8:20pm – The National League North – Blackwell Meadows, Darlington Name the top ten night’s out in Britain and I very much doubt many people would put Darlington in their list. But those people are wrong because it is an excellent place to go for some craft beers, superb food and…
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Gateshead 0 Aldershot Town 2
Saturday 3rd December 2022 12.30pm – The National League – Gateshead International Stadium, Gateshead It goes to show how pessimistic some leagues were that they decided, on behalf of their clubs, that games would kick off at 12.30pm on Saturday 3rd December. The reason being was that IF England would have finished as runners-up in…
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Whitley Bay 1 West Didsbury & Chorlton 1 (West Didsbury win on penalties)
Saturday 3rd December 2022 – The FA Vase – Hillheads Park, Whitley Bay There’s no doubt that Tyne & Wear is a footballing hotbed. Whilst the Geordies and the Mackems try to outdo each other on tales of past glories to replace any recent successes (granted, things appear to be looking up for both sides…
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Buxton 3 Grantham Town 0
There’s little not to like about Buxton. A picturesque market town, set in the stunning Derbyshire Dales. Two breweries, England’s oldest hotel, an opera house and of course a Non-League side with ambitions to play in the National League, who play in England’s highest ground, which has been in continual use since 1884, a year…
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Dunstable Town 0 Luton Town 5
professional side in the competition and whilst they only field their Under21s, they are the plump draw in the competition as it almost guarantees a bumper crowd. And so it is that on a chilly Tuesday night nearly 350 are in attendance as the Blues look to banish their league woes and pull off a…
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Cobham 2 Banstead Athletic 2
The resulting exchange between the two clubs on social media was sarcastic at best, accusatory at worst, with Sheerwater suggesting that the Banstead actions were deliberate in wanting to get the game abandoned. What happens next is one for the Combined Counties League to determine. A week later and the visitors arrived at the Reg…
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Horley Town 1 Redhill 3
Monday 27th December 2021 – Combined Counties Premier League South – The New Defence, Horley The traditional Boxing Day games at Steps 3 and below had been shifted back 24 hours this year which unfortunately didn’t do many clubs any favours with heavy overnight rain leading to a significant number of postponements. Not that stopped…
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Bromley 1 Southend United 1
ootball pyramid where there tends to be more supply (seats/space on the terrace) than demand. With BT Sports choosing the game between high-flying Bromley and troubled Southend United as their Live game and moving it to 5:20pm, you may have thought it would have a negative impact on the crowd. No trains running to/from Bromley,…
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Takeley 2 Saffron Walden Town 1
Tuesday 21st December 2021 – The Peter Butcher Memorial Trophy – Station Road, Takeley It’s Tuesday night in the run up to Christmas. We all have better things to do than drive 50 miles to watch a league cup game played between two step 5 sides but I’d never consider myself to be included in…
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Bexhill United 0 Bognor Regis Town 5
football that I had turned down the £18 double cheeseburger meal at the Emirates and even sacked off a Christmas drinks event to drive 58 miles south-ish, following caravans, lorries and learner drivers on winding country roads. Was it worth it? 100% absolutely. This was definitely a stand to look into and admire rather than…
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Stowmarket Town 3 AFC Sudbury 0
Is the club ready for the next step? Facilities wise, Green Meadow is a good place to watch a game, even on a Tuesday in December, although in places you are a few metres away from the edge of the pitch. The challenge is in the additional costs they would incur – travel for instance…
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Stansfeld 3 Frimley Green 1
comprehensive win. Kicking down the slope in the second period and playing two up front, pulling the defensive wide, Stansfeld produced wave after wave of attacks.
The Ball is Round 