Author Archive

What I have noticed over the past seven weeks of this tour is the power of video. Back in 2010, it was nowhere near as powerful or welcome but as the years roll on, the need for video in every blog becomes more apparent. See tomorrow’s. It is ALL about video! So, over the past two months it is no surprise that Darren Ashley’s weekly vlogs have been so popular.

This week he has been in Lutterworth and his story continues.

Lutterworth Athletic FC

“The power of the Non League Football Facebook group led to an invite from Lutterworth Athletic co-owner Lee English to vlog their UCL division 1 home match v Radford. I have to say quickly, that, when Lee contacted me last Sunday, I asked if he was a fan or had connections with the club.

Anyway, accompanied by a couple of mates Thunder & Fieldy, we arrived just after 1.30.

What struck me initially was, it was quite a large premise, with building work to improve facilities also going on. We were met by Lee, who then introduced us to co-owner, chairman…and dad Mike!

Mike took the time from his clearly busy schedule to show us around, talk about the building work going on, aspirations for the club and how vital for the community it was for youth age footy to be played on the site. I then did some filming and got a quick pre match interview with manager Ash Brown.

Now, before the interview and off camera, one of my mates, who really likes his food, commented that his name sounded like Hash Brown! Ash sighed, he had heard it before, but, this was a problem for me, as the seed was planted, I was really going to have to try hard not to call him Hash in the interview…I think I succeeded. (Cue – Basil Fawlty )

Just before game time, Mike gave us permission to film the match from the balcony, which was in the middle of being built to extend it, so, up we went. Game starts, and it turned out to be a really good half, lots of action, too much actually to make the vlog. 2 good footballing sides made it easy on the eye.

Half time comes, more filming, then, down to the main entrance where Lutterworth were providing plenty of free food…not just for us, but for everyone. A real class gesture. I know some of the Radford fans I spoke too were delighted with this.

Second half starts then, with belly’s full!!

Now, I had been desperate to get Mike on film for an interview, but he was super busy on the day , however the opportunity came, on the balcony as the 2nd half was about to start.

I asked Thunder to film it and to film bits of the building work as Mike was talking. As we wrapped up the very quick interview, out of the corner of my eye, I could see Radford had a really promising attack. You will be able to see me pointing for Thunder to film the pitch, but….too late…GOAL!!

He only had one job. (Cue – Oceans Eleven)

The second half wasn’t as exciting as the 1st, but it was still a decent watch.

Full time comes, down from the balcony, offers of more free food, and I managed to track down Radford manager David for a quick post match interview.

It was soon time to go, where I had to find Lee and Mike to thank them for their amazing hospitality and generosity…they also happened to to be a couple of really decent fella’s too.

Lee was working hard behind a heaving bar, and Mike was quite difficult to locate, until I found him settled with half a beer in his hand. I told him I hoped the finished vlog will show off the club in the light it really deserves, and we would love to return.

So, that was that then, Thunder, Fieldy and I made our way separately home…if you can imagine the map at the start of Dads Army, that was basically us!!

If any ground hoppers haven’t been to Lutterworth Athletic, it’s hugely recommended to do and, it won’t do any harm to contact the club to let them know your intention

Quickly, a big thumbs up too, to the very vocal away following, they really were in fine voice.”

Thanks for sticking with this for this long, and, to see the finished vlog, click HERE

Thanks again, Darren and I am looking forward to see whether you will be taking your colleagues with you next week! Lee also confirmed on the FB group that they have printed programmes, badges and public transport to the ground. A hopper’s dream stadium!

In the meantime, I hope that you will consider a donation however small to support FC Deportivo Galicia and/or Prostate Cancer UK  If everybody chipped in £1 I would easily hit my target of £10,000 and life would be easier in West London whilst the charity continued their great work. A HEARTFELT thanks, if you can. If you can’t you can still help massively by sharing this page about the work of Prostate Cancer. Thanks, Steve.

One of the most popular “days” on the tour so far was Day Eleven. It was Christian Obray’s excellent article about “The Rise Of Non-League Football.” I thought it was so good and so timely that I asked him if I could reproduce it and he kindly agreed. We kept in touch and I was delighted to learn that his blog Through the Turnstile had gone live. He kindly (again!) allowed me to reproduce part of his review about Chatham Town. Again this proved very popular with followers of this tour and he kindly (yet again!) allowed me to share this week’s club overview of Coventry United. I have to be quite honest, I knew almost nothing about the club, I have never been to the ground and nor did I know anything about the all-important shirt. All will be revealed. Thanks Christian. I hope people are following Through The Turnstile in numbers.

THROUGH THE TURNSTILE @ COVENTRY UNITED

Coventry United

Welcome back to Through the Turnstile, the series that shines the light on some of non-leagues leading stars. This time we are heading to the West Midlands to take a look over what could be one of the youngest teams which will ever be covered by ‘Through the Turnstile’, Coventry United. So without further ado, let’s have a look the history of this young club and find out a little more about how it came to be formed as well as how it is doing today

A brief history of the Club

Coventry United Football Club emerged in 2013 following the acquisition of Coventry Spartans. Edwin Greaves continued as the first manager, guiding the club to a debut league victory and a promotion, despite finishing as runners-up. They also reached their inaugural cup final but suffered a defeat. The subsequent season witnessed their triumph in the league, securing a comfortable lead and advancing in the Non-League Pyramid.

In 2016, Greaves departed, and Terry Anderson stepped in, leading the team to an impressive winning streak of 11 matches, culminating in a title win. Anderson and his assistant, Luke Morton, then assumed permanent roles. The club’s relocation to Butts Park Arena in 2017 marked a significant milestone in their history.

Under the ownership of Joe Haggarty from 2020, the club maintained its status as Coventry’s top non-league entity despite being reassigned to the United Counties League Premier Division South due to restructuring. However, managerial changes ensued, notably with Russell Dodds and Darren Acton resigning in 2021.

By 2022, Haggarty resigned as chairman and manager, leading to interim leadership by Nigel Ward, a devoted club supporter. Ward’s interim tenure focused on stabilizing the club both on and off the field, resulting in significant progress. Subsequently, Michael Kavanagh assumed the role of chairman, with John Goodman as Vice Chairman.

Carl Nolan was appointed manager for the 2022/2023 Season taking over from Ivor Lawton and under Carl’s management he guided the club to a respectable 8 place finish.

On the 1st December 2023 the club appointed a new manager, Ellis Alleyne who is still in charge today. Under Ellis the team have played 12 – won 5, drawn 3 and lost 4, mid-table form which is a very respectable run of results from what has been very much a period of stablisation for the team/club. Here is hoping that next year the team could be looking to push on up the table and maybe even challenge the play-off spots…

(Source acknowledged)

Stadium info

Based in the heart of the City, Coventry United play their games games at the Butts Park Arena, a multi-use stadium with its primary team being Coventry R.F.C (Rugby).

“For the level of football we play at a great Stadium the Butts Park Arena you wont see many stadiums as good as this at the level & even higher up the leagues.”

David Garton – Media Manager for Coventry United

Stadium Shop

Located at the entrance to the stadium with the ticket office the stadium shop is the place to grab all of the merchandise the club has to offer. The branded snoods is not something that you often see on offer from a club and one which I think is a really good idea. Of course the hope is that one day the club is in a position where they can also offer replica kits to buy along with their other merch, but in the meantime why not treat yourself to a beanie and snood.

So, if this little overview has whetted your appetite and you want to see their shirt or find out whether they produce a programme, please shoot over to Christian’s excellent Through The Turnstile

In the meantime, I hope that you will consider a donation however small to support FC Deportivo Galicia and/or Prostate Cancer UK If everybody chipped in £1 I would easily hit my target of £10,000 and life would be easier in West London whilst the charity continued their great work. A HEARTFELT thanks, if you can. If you can’t you can still help massively by sharing this page about the work of Prostate Cancer. Thanks

Bring Me that Horizon

I had a nice surprise this week when a friend of a friend introduced himself to me. Since then we have been messaging about Portuguese football (about which I know embarrassingly little), Spanish football (about which I am meant to know more than something) and, well, life! So, welcome to The Shirt Family, author Miguel Lourenço Pereira. Our mutual friend, Gary Thacker, was spotlighted here with the launch of his book about the Brazilian victory in the Mexico 1970 World Cup whilst Miguel tells me he has just released a new book in English about Portuguese football. Obviously I said I’d be happy to help.

By a strange coincidence, it is also published by my friends at Pitch Publishing. I am told, “Bring Me that Horizon is a quest into the heart and soul of Portuguese football. From Eusebio’s glorious career to Cândido de Oliveira’s adventures as a British intelligence agent, the book reveals a nation that already had fantastic tales to tell before it became the flavour of the month for football hipsters at the turn of the millennium. There’s much more to Portugal’s football heritage than Ronaldo and Mourinho.”

It offers the reader:

• Fascinating journey into Portugal’s history, day-to-day life,
  gastronomy, culture and sporting world
• Quest to understand the nature of Portugal’s biggest clubs
  and football personalities, from the past up to the present day
• Insight into the lives of iconic figures such as José
  Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo
• Exclusive opinions by some of the world’s leading
  sportswriters and journalists, including Simon Kuper, Sid
  Lowe, Marti Perarnau and many more
• Author’s seventh book after writing on the lives of Johan
  Cruyff and Diego Maradona as well as the history of the
  Euros, World Cup and European club competitions
  
• You can learn more and order the book here
  
• Miguel is described as, “Miguel Lourenço Pereira is a Portuguese journalist and football historian. Author of several sporting books, including Noites Europeias, Sueños de la Euro and Cruyff: Anatomy of a Genius, his work has been published in Portugal, Spain and Brazil for more than a decade. He has also written for Panenka, Libero, Futebol Magazine, In Bed With Maradona and Corner.”

It was good to hear from Tom Saunders thanking me for yesterday’s post. Nice tie in with the day before’s too because Marcus Rashford from the previous day had actually donated a shirt to the Ben Saunders Foundation (#respect.) If you have not voted for the Ben Saunders Foundation (zero cost!) please pop over there now. Tom assures me that EVERY vote counts!

Today’s post is going to be short and sweet but nevertheless heartfelt. Some of you will know that I have not cut my hair for 3 and a half years! I was “encouraged” to grow it by a nurse who was looking after me in hospital back in 2020. It is for the Little Princess Trust who make wigs for girls with leukaemia. I had vaguely heard that hair was needed but having regulation short back and sides realised I was no use to them. I read up about the charity and was pleased to grow my hair to my elbows for this GREAT cause.
Cancer is cruel. Cancer is evil. There is NO best or worst type of cancer but I do think that children with cancer is perhaps the saddest. Anyway, I read up and applied and so it came to pass that I got my hair cut at Academy Salon in Cobham yesterday. What is needed?

I quote:
“The Little Princess Trust provides free real hair wigs to children and young people, up to 24 years, who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or other conditions.

We also fund childhood cancer research searching to find kinder and more effective treatments. 

Hair and Hope

We work closely with a trusted network of accredited wig fitters to ensure our wig recipients never have to travel far for their wig fitting.

We know that the children and young people we support may be facing many challenges, so we make the process of requesting a wig as easy and as straightforward as possible.

Providing free real hair wigs is at the heart of what we do, but we also want to support the development of less aggressive and less toxic cancer treatments.

In 2016, thanks to the huge efforts of our fantastic fundraisers, we were able to begin funding scientists researching paediatric cancer.

We have now funded 128 research projects searching for kinder and more effective treatments for all childhood cancers as we continue to follow our vision to give Hair and Hope to every young person with cancer until there is no longer a need for what we do.”

How could I not support?

If you want to learn more, please pop over to the Little Princesses Trust website.

Academy Salons

Now, there is a special way the hair needs to be cut for a wig. The Trust gave me a number of local contacts but they either did not reply or did not cut men’s hair (?) so I was glad to find unisex Academy Salons in Cobham. Sadly not on my doorstep but less than 2 hours by three buses and I was there. I amde a day of it and had a wander in Kingston on the way there.

I have to say that it was the first time in my life that I had been in such a luxurious salon! I was met by two charming receptionists who took my coat, sat me comfortably and they beavered away. They made light of the fact that I am deaf and knew exactly how the hair has to be cut for the wigs. They had the instructions to hand and had clearly done it before! Now where I normally go, Raz or Ahmed have never taken more than 15 minutes I am sure, nor have they washed my hair or conditioned it. Their shop is always busy and people are buying vapes, phonecards etc etc. There are a dozen TV screens showing a dozen channels, from a dozen countries! Buzz, buzz, buzz, snip, snip, snip. In and out. Done, hecho, fatto. Not at Academy. It was 75 minutes in a calm, relaxed atmosphere. I saw a few of the previous clients leaving all looking delighted with their choice of styles. Now, I had no choice how it was cut but then with all the ponytails off, they set about making me look half-human. I am totally impressed. No George Clooney or Sean Connery but that was never going to happen! Highly recommended.

It would be rude of me not to give them a shout. So, take a bow, Academy Salons, Cobham. Website, booking site? Yes, here it is.

PS. Before I even got there, I was impressed with confirmation of appointment emails etc. Not something I am used to. If there is a spare seat at Chez Raz you grab it and know you will be out in thirty minutes max and that he will have been on his mobile for most of your time in the chair!

PPS If anybody makes a donation to Little Princesses, I will upload before and after photos!

It was good to hear from Tom Saunders today. He is the ex manager at Chippenham Town FC and led them to the top five of the Dr Martens Premier Division, via two promotions, three cup wins and a Vase final at Wembley. He is also the Chairman of the Ben Saunders Foundation. Tragically his son Ben died at the age of only 18.

Tom wrote,

Please spend 20 seconds and nominate my sons foundation on the original post. Ben played for Bath City and it would be wonderful for Non League supporters to nominate. Ben Saunders Foundation

We have received over 320 nominations this event over the last few days, it is a honour that so many people have taken time out to do this for Ben. Last year it was incredible to be selected, there are so many worthwhile charities looking for nominations, to keep Bens name in the frame is wonderful for us. Thank you. YNWA Ben”

Always happy to help any member of the football family I said that I would be happy to share too. So, here goes

Nominations for the Band in a Barn 2024 third main beneficiary are open!

To nominate your favourite charity, please comment below, then like and share this post.

The charity with the most nominations by midnight on 21st February 2024 wins!

PLEASE NOTE: ONLY NOMINATIONS MADE IN THE COMMENTS ON THIS ORIGINAL POST ON THE BAND IN A BARN PAGE WILL BE COUNTED ….Here is the direct link.

Ben wrote:

The Ben Saunders Foundation (BSF) has been started to raise funds to support Children and Young adults with cancer within the UK.

I (the founder) Ben Saunders was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer sarcoma attached to my heart which I have been fighting since October 2019. It has spread into my lungs and I have faced many challenges along the way. These include two major open heart surgeries, 6 rounds of very intense chemotherapy’s which I am now currently back on!

These are just some of the things I have experienced along my cancer journey and I am looking to help and offer whatever I can alongside my family and the foundation to offer support to young people with cancer like myself.

I have been fortunate enough throughout my journey so far to have received the support I have, whether that being mentally, physically or a short holiday with friends recently to Centreparcs. I feel everyone in these circumstances deserves to be given as much support and happiness through the very difficult times they will come across.

Any nominations for the BSF as above would be gratefully received. Thanks.

Marcus Rashford

One of the standout footballers of the last ten years has undoubtedly been Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford. He was born in 1997 and lived literally a few streets away from where I had left a few years previously. Nobody will ever confuse Wythenshawe with Sunningdale or Virginia Waters ….ever! Like most kids on Wythenshawe Rashford grew up with little more than hope. Wikipedia dance round it a bit, “Rashford comes from a working class family; his mother is Melanie Maynard, a single parent who often had to work multiple jobs to feed their family, sometimes skipping meals herself to ensure Rashford and his siblings ate. He has four older siblings: two brothers, Dwaine Maynard and Dane Rashford, both of whom went on to represent him professionally, and two sisters, Chantelle and Claire.” In more recent years, Rashford has opened up about his childhood poverty and has worked consistently on social issues since Covid and been a constant thorn in the Conservative Government’s side. He has supplied tens of thousands of meals and provided food and supplies to many more. One of his most interesting initiatives is his book club. He openly admits to never having read a book until he was seventeen and states that it was a life-changing event.

The Marcus Rashford Book Club Competition 

The Marcus Rashford Book Club is a collaboration between iconic international football player and child food poverty campaigner Marcus Rashford MBE and Macmillan Children’s Books.

The Book Club aims to encourage and nurture a love of reading in children and get free books to the children who need them the most. 6.5 per cent of children in the UK say they do not have their own book at home, which equates to over 500, 000 children in the UK (Book Ownership in 2022).

Marcus read his first book at the age of seventeen, and credits this with changing the direction of his life, which is why the Marcus Rashford Book Club has delivered over 100,000 free books to children living in the most disadvantaged areas.

The Marcus Rashford Book Club 

Let your children embark on an exciting journey beyond the school fence, filled with mystery, friendship, and charismatic creatures. Crafted to captivate hearts and minds of children aged 8 to 11, and brimming with beautiful illustrations, these stories foster creativity, courage, and companionship. Give your young reader the thrill of unwrapping Marcus Rashford’s lively adventure series, where its power, charm, and lessons will echo beyond the pages!

2 lucky winners will receive:

– The Breakfast Club Adventures
– The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Ghoul in the School
– The Breakfast Club Adventures: The Phantom Thief
– You Are a Champion

To enter: head to the link in @macmillankidsuk ‘s bio!

Competition closes on 15 February at 12.00. Open to UK entrants only. Entrants must be 18+. Terms and conditions apply.

Gary Thacker

It is always good when I hear from a follower of The Shirt Project. This weekend I heard from friend, fellow Hispanophile, author and BIG Chelsea fan, Gary Thacker. He is excited about the launch of his latest book, O Jogo Bonito! I am delighted to spotlight it. 1966 was, of course, the English party, Wembley, Hurst’s hat-trick, Nobby’s celebrations etc. The spectators were still in suits and ties and it was in a London of Carnaby Street, pop music and post-war euphoria with nationwide hopes and dreams. The Brazilians who arrived as World Cup holders were fairly cynically kicked out of the competition and failed to progress past the group stage. 1970 marked their re-emergence on the world stage. Gary describes this in detail but at pace.

O Jogo Bonito! is the magical story of Brazil at the 1970 World Cup, and a team that featured the incomparable skills of Pelé, Rivellino, Gérson, Jairzinho and Tostão.

The 1970 World Cup was the first tournament televised live and in colour. It was also the occasion when the Brazilian Seleção Canarinho declared themselves to be the best team ever to lift the Jules Rimet trophy – bringing their own life and colour to the tournament. Yellow shirts as bright as the Mexican sun, blue shorts as vivid as the bright sky, and dancing feet, beating out a hypnotising rhythm that rendered opponents flat-footed by comparison.

Their third success in four tournaments meant that the 12-inch-high trophy would for evermore be the property of Brazil. It was a more than fitting accolade. All teams crowned as world champions before and since, are measured against, and fall short of, the bewitching beauty of that team. It was Brazil’s football in that World Cup that truly defined the phrase the beautiful game (‘o jogo bonito’).

You can learn more here

Gallery

This is not Gary’s first rodeo. He has written two fantastic novels (above) about the semi-pro game in Spain which are two of my favourite books about football. Think Fever Pitch but at a faster pace. Think A Season with Verona but a few levels down (about 8!) He has also written non-fiction books on England in the World Cup, the Dutch and Chelsea. Full details here

It’s Sunday so that can only mean one thing. It’s time to watch Darren’s Vlog of The Week! He had a bit of misfortune with a postponement but in true showbiz style he decided “the show must go on” and found another option.

Let’s hear what he says, “After the early postponement of the match I was meant to attend (Winslow Utd/Buckingham), yesterday, I found a different one to vlog, almost certain to go ahead as it was to be played on a 3G surface.

I turned up at Oxford City’s ground to take in bottom side Long Crendon’s home match with 13th placed Southam United. In the quick research I had done, I discovered that Crendon hadn’t won since the beginning of September.

I had visited Southam earlier in the season, and found them a super helpful club, so, I contacted chairman Michael Davis to see if a interview with manager Richard Kay could be arranged…and of course, the answer was a yes, and, Richard was great with his time for me. What I wanted to really know when I arrived though was, why was Long Crendon, in step 6, groundsharing with a National League team?

I found Tom Folley, the assistant manager, DOF and a committee member at Long Crendon, who happily agreed to an interview on camera to give me the answer.

Tom, like everyone connected with the club who I met yesterday, was fantastic, especially manger Waheed Ramzan, who, before the match, agreed to give me a full time interview, even though, realistically, it had the real potential to be another defeat for his team.

About 15 minutes before kick off, still trying to decide where to film, I got talking to Ben, also part of the staff for the home team, who, unbelievably, told me I could go up on top of the stand, onto the camera balcony, to do match filming from there….honestly, you don’t know how happy that made me.

Some of the Southam players who I had been talking to earlier whilst they were warming up, spotted me up there and gave me a bit of friendly banter.

So, primed in an ideal spot, the match kicked off.

Of course, I won’t tell you what happened, as I want you to watch the vlog below, but, trust me, what I saw, I really didn’t expect…., there were goals and I thought the team of officials were excellent.

So, at full time, I climbed down from my lofty perch, did the pre planned interview with Waheed, and headed into the clubhouse where Crendon chairman Gerald Reilly bought me a welcoming cup of very hot coffee. Once that was sunk, and final link filmed, I headed home, buzzing that I had had another brilliant day out at Non League.

Huge thanks to Long Crendon and Southam United for the generosity they showed me, and also, to Winslow United for calling the game off early enough which gave me plenty of time to rearrange. “

Here is this week’s vlog. I hope you enjoy it and subscribe to his channel.

….but there’s more

Now what Darren did not know was that Oxford City have been an integral part of the Shirt Project dating back to 2009. It was one of the first grounds that Bjørn visited that summer on his cycle epic to South Africa. He was met with such enthusiasm and friendship that Bjørn to this day still talks about his visit. Obviously when I cycled to the 92 clubs in 2010 there was no way that I could not pop in and thank them. I was equally met with great friendship and was even offered the dressing rooms to sleep in as well as the run of the showers etc. A clean Steve and clean clothes. Beautiful. In the way that all football fans do, I have watched out for the Oxford City results ever since.

I wrote at the time (August 2010),

“It’s all about friendship. Really looking forward to going to Oxford CITY today. Colin Taylor and his guys really looked after Bjørn when he was in the “City of Spires” last year and I’d like to go back and say thanks. Bjørn talks a lot about the help he got from the smaller clubs and Oxford City is one he often mentions. One of his/my favourite photos of the last 15 years is at Oxford City.

As expected it was an easy trip to Oxford and apart from playing traffic cop when three cars collided and blocked off one carriageway of the Milton Keynes-Bicester road largely without incident.

I arrived at the neat Oxford City ground to be met by Colin who entertained and educated me greatly about the proud history of Oxford City. Did you know that they were once winners of FA Amateur Cup? Did you know they were once by the late great Sir Bobby Moore “assisted” by Harry Redknapp? This and more can be found here.

I was very interested to learn more about their community schemes and plans for the development of the ground. I bought four shares – one for me, one for Bjørn, one for The Shirt and, as seemed appropriate, one for the sponsor of the day, David Stolz at InfoLogic.

Colin was kind enough to let me stay at their clubhouse and I was locked in with my bike for a good night’s sleep. As you see, he also kindly presented me with a brand-new Oxford City polo which I wore with pride on my journey to Swindon.”

It is interesting but at the same time sad the posts that have got the most traction and comments on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are about sponsorship and fundraising. It is evident that 99% of us do not support clubs awash with Saudi or American money and that for every Newcastle United there are one hundred Chorleys, Tauntons, Burys etc.

I was pleased therefore to receive a fundraising guide from Rich Stock at Clubforce. He calls it the “Definitive Guide to Club Fundraising” and it is absolutely worth studying if you are at the helm of a club and even more so if your role is commercial.

It is a 24 page downloadable guide crammed with ideas and recommendations that have been proven over many years and with many clubs. You can download the guide here at no cost. I trust it is valuable and I will welcome any and all feedback.

That being said, I am a great believer in that nobody has a unique claim to knowledge and I would be very happy to read about your fundraising successes and failures. Fire away.

As always, I hope that you will consider a donation however small to support FC Deportivo Galicia and/or Prostate Cancer UK If everybody chipped in £1 I would easily hit my target of £10,000 and life would be easier in West London whilst the charity continued their great work. A HEARTFELT thanks, if you can. If you can’t you can still help massively by sharing this page about the work of Prostate Cancer. Thanks.

Can you believe it? Yes, it’s Saturday again. That can only mean one thing. Football. Huge local derby with FC Deportivo Galicia at home to Brook House. As the song goes, “This could be heaven or this could be hell.” On their day, Brook House are unstoppable and unplayable. Sadly for them, their days seem to be Sundays and Fridays as on other match days they have struggled recently. Sad as they are a good set of lads …… and on a direct bus from me!

On Sunday, I am thinking of a trip to Gunnersbury to support Clapton CFC where their ladies have an interesting game against Actonians Reserves. I am a member/owner at Clapton (£5 per season!) and I like to catch them when I can. The Hub is easy by foot from Acton Town on the Piccadilly Line. (Options via Gunnersbury too or even South Acton. As always on a Sunday check TfL!)