Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

You might remember that I had the pleasure of meeting Brian last week at the Groundhop As promised he has sent me the overview of his book.

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A Century of DERES

August 2022 marked the centenary of Erith and Belvedere FC.  It was on 26 August 1922 that the Deres played their first match, losing 3-1 at home to Chatham Town, and even in their first season they reached the quarter-final of the FA Amateur Cup, before being losing finalists to Clapton a year later.  To coincide with this landmark “A Century of Deres” looks back over the club’s first century, with its ups and downs,
Every season in the club’s history is featured: the story includes two Amateur Cup Finals (1924 and 1938), an all-conquering wartime team, the heyday of the Corinthian and Athenian Leagues, two thrilling Kent League titles and dark days when the club’s future appeared under threat.

There are also profiles of 100 major figures in the club’s history, from record-breaking strikers to loyal club men, from the club’s most successful managers to players who made a single appearance but had a great impact on football elsewhere.  Plus a look further back to the origins of football in Erith, when two Victorian working men set up a lasting tradition.

And you can find out the only person to have both played against the Deres AND appeared in “Blackadder”!

“A fabulous historical account charting the last 100 years. What an unbelievable feat of research and dedication to produce this fantastic piece of work. I would urge everyone who has Erith & Belvedere FC in their blood to buy one…” – Tony Beckingham, former Erith & Belvedere manager.

“Brilliant memories … not put it down since receiving it” – Gary Groom, ex-Dere.

“Brilliantly put together and the 100 profiles are great” – Phil Nourse, Charlton Life.

“Detailed and extremely well researched” – Non League Paper.

Available for £10 at the ground on matchdays or from ACoDbook@gmail.com

One of the questions that comes up almost daily on my London Facebook groups and especially those for visitors is the vexed question of how to get tickets for football games in the capital. I have attempted to give a comprehensive response multiple times and my friend Richard Atkinson has crafted a comprehensive overview. So, if you are interested in tickets for matches in London and want the FACTS from people living here who actually go to numerous games each season, read on!

Richard says,

” London currently has seven teams playing in the Premier League: Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Fulham, Brentford, West Ham United, Crystal Palace

Obviously there are other well known clubs outside of London such as Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City. Both Liverpool and Manchester are around 2 1/2 to 3 hours’ train journey from London and would probably require an overnight stay in either city if you can secure match tickets.

The fixture list for the Premier league is released mid June with games generally taking place August- May

Unfortunately tickets for premier league clubs are rarer than gold hens’ teeth unless you are a season ticket holder or club member (although even this doesn’t guarantee you a ticket.) Your best bet for these teams is hospitality packages, however these can easily run into hundreds if not thousands of pounds.

Also many teams will run some sort of membership scheme and categorise matches so for example let’s take Chelsea when they play the bigger more widely supported teams such as Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool etc these games will be highest demand for tickets so they have a points based system in place where fans collect points by going to lesser matches against say Burnley, Nottingham Forest, Ipswich etc which then gives them more chance of tickets for the “bigger” games. The more points you have the more likely you can get tickets. This ensures that fans that go regularly can get tickets to the bigger matches, but does mean it’s even harder for visitors to get tickets for these games.

Another option is that these clubs have supporters’ groups all over the world (especially in the US and Australia.) Have a search online if there is a local supporters group near you and contact them as they occasionally have access to tickets or can perhaps point you in the right direction. Be VERY Careful when using third party sellers as they may not be legitimate tickets. ALWAYS buy directly from the club or through the clubs recommended ticket agents.

Perhaps consider a game outside of the Premier League lots of London based clubs in the lower divisions

London Teams in Lower Divisions

Championship

Queens Park Rangers, Watford (Just outside of London) ,Millwall

League 1

Charlton

Leyton Orient, Reading (Outside of London but now easily accessible via Elizabeth line)

League 2

Gillingham ,AFC Wimbledon

(I hate to recommend these two as these are both big rivals of the team I follow )

You SHOULD be able to get tickets for these teams easily for Championship it’s worth looking a few weeks ahead leagues 1&2 should generally be available a few days before or even on the door.

Again register on the websites for updates on tickets

Please be aware that Premier league and occasionally Championship games can be moved to different dates and time due to TV schedules or if a team does particularly well in the various cup competitions so just keep an eye out.

Another option is an England match at Wembley Stadium. They have generally more general tickets on sale and is often cheaper than Premier League check online for schedules. They generally have games about every 6-8 weeks between October and May

If you are travelling in July/early August this is the start of pre season matches often friendlies or mini tournaments against teams from other parts of Europe tickets for these games are relatively easy to find.

Again depending on the time of year early rounds on the various cup competitions are fairly easy to get tickets especially the league cup or Europa league, note that the Premier League teams will not enter The FA Cup until the third round in January. The Premier League will have eight teams in Europe; Manchester City Arsenal, Manchester United and Newcastle have qualified for the Champions League, Liverpool, Brighton and West Ham will be in the Europa League Aston Villa (Based in Birmingham 1.5 hours train from London) are in the Europa Conference League, although note that often the higher profile players will not play in these games and the manager may well select younger/reserve players to give them a chance in the team.

Alternatively Women’s football has become massively popular in recent years and the big clubs are now taking it much more seriously the Women’s matches tend to be played in smaller stadiums often in the suburbs of London but easy reach by public transport, occasionally they play in the main stadiums and can attract crowds of up to 50,000 so it’s maybe worth keeping an eye of the fixtures for Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham Women’s teams as well this may well increase due to The Women’s World Cup last summer. If England do well (as expected) interest and attendances may well increase further and more games may be played in bigger stadiums as a result.

Outside of all this there is a huge amount of lower league teams all over London who play regularly I found this amazing website. Which will list that weeks matches with a handy map note the lower the division obviously the smaller the stadiums and smaller the crowds many of these teams will attract fans from anywhere from 1000 to literally just a handful.

http://www.tlfg.Uk

Alternatively, if you want a sports’ fix why not try other sports such as Rugby Union (Harlequins and Saracens in London), Rugby League (London Broncos) or Cricket particularly in the T20 or 100 tournaments (Surrey or Middlesex)

For “US” sports London has leading teams in basketball (London Lions) or ice hockey (Guildford Flames/Streatham Redskins)

Don’t forget London also hosts world class sporting events such as Wimbledon tennis tournament, and often major championships in Athletics, Swimming and Track and Road Cycling.”

His credentials: Richard is a vastly experienced London Tour Guide having worked in the industry for over two decades. Starting his career for Historic Royal Palaces based at Hampton Court Palace and moved on to becoming a tour guide with both Toot Tours and Guide manager with Golden Tours. His career has seen him work at many of London’s major attractions including The Harry Potter studio tour, The Tower Bridge Exhibition, The London Film Museum, both Chelsea and Wembley Stadium Tours and even Buckingham Palace itself.

Richard currently runs a variety of independent small group walking tours across London via Guruwalks, including Changing Of The Guard, Harry Potter and The Beatles in London, using his vast passion for his home city , and deep knowledge especially for all things Royal, to bring London to life for thousands of happy visitors every year and he looks forward to welcoming you as part of his tours.

SCEFL Groundhop

It was a busy, busy weekend. Lots of ups and a few downs. #life The Saturday was the SCEFL Groundhop and I caught up with this at Fisher in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division. It’s amazing that I have never seen a game there. Something always seems to get in the way and although it was not an evening game with the iconic views, it was a prefect opportunity to visit this Step 5 /Level 9 team which is famous for its views, its incredible youth set up and (cough!) some “interesting” ex owners and fans! The ground is easily reached on a direct bus from Peckham or Waterloo but I walked from the DLR at Canada Water. On the way there was an unedifying street fight between a dozen hoodies, mainly on hacked Lime bikes. As I walked ahead purposefully I saw police cars and ambulances racing to the scene.

It was much more orderly inside and a huge crowd of 400+ were entertained to an enjoyable game where the home team never really came to terms with a very front-foot Faversham side. The atmosphere reminded me a bit of Clapton CFC although with no structured singing. There was plenty of vocal support but the away team prevailed and confirmed why they are tipped for the title. Tashi-Jay Kwayie was a particular thorn in the side and his aggressive challenges were frequently successful and set Faversham up for another attack. I have found out since he is a professional model too. Maybe I should not tell Roy Keane or Red Card Roy McDonough!

I had the pleasure of meeting Brian Spurrell, the author of a a number of books about football and he has kindly offered to send me an overview in the next few days. His “History of Erith and Belvedere F.C.” particularly caught my eye. More soon!

So, a good day out and I will definitely be back to Fisher. Cheap coffee, great atmosphere, good transport options, a great printed programme and a friendly crowd …. what more can a man want?

On the terraces I also met Terry Hall (no relation) of Terry’s badges. We had texted and emailed previously but never met. So that was a pleasure. If your club needs badges or you are yourself a badge collector please ping him and I am sure he will be delighted to help out.

Sunday was busy too and it was one of Barry Davey’s West London Programme Fairs It was a hugely successful event. The best ever? Maybe! In attendance were David Pleat who was talking football, shaking hands, reminiscing and promoting his new book. I have to say he looked very well at (There’s hope for me yet!) Barry tells me that if you want a copy of “Just One More Goal” to get in touch. As always my friends Lee Hermitage and Les Easterbrook were there. Lee gets an extra tick as he helped me from making a very dubious but expensive purchase. Free coffee next time, amigo. Les was selling badges like they were going out of fashion, as the saying goes, but it seems they are very much IN fashion. Lee owns North West Middlesex Programmes & Memorabilia and found me a mint Gillingham programme from the 60s to replace a very tatty one. Have a look and if you abuse Arsenal in your email, I am sure he will love you for ever! Barry, Lee, Les …. top guys!

David and Phil at the Fair

A novelty was the presence of David Pleat who looked very sprightly and enjoyed talking all things football as he signed copies of his autobiography. Next to David was Phil Duffy who wrote the comprehensive “They Played for David Pleat at Luton Town.” I was quickly in conversation with Phil who again has promised to send me an overview of the book and what he has been up to since the book was published. I am looking forward to sharing that with you all on here.

Whilst all this was going on Gillingham were getting a lesson at Crewe and FC Deportivo Galicia came very close to creating a huge upset at Yateley. In sunny Leicestershire our intrepid Darren was again in action. Enjoy his latest offering and his gourmet guide to Burgers in Barwell.

I had a friendly chat with Terry from Terry’s Badges yesterday. I will be asking him to produce a badge for my next charity ride (Details soonest!) I am always happy to support small businesses and promised to give him a shout out. So whether you want to buy one of the hundreds of different badges he has in stock or want a badge of your favourite club produced, pop by his website and give him a shout.

He says, ” Welcome to my Web Site! This site is dedicated to Non-League football badges. I have always had a passion for non-league football, as a player, manager and chairman of my local clubs. I enjoyed 21 successful years as a player with Stokenchurch FC, Lane End FC and Beacons Bottom Athletic FC. I also played for the very successful Lane End United FC Sunday side.

I collect English non-league badges plus I have many for sale as you will see on this site! I also design and produce badges for 100’s of Non-League clubs up and down the country. I only use the best enamel and fittings as most of you will testify.

I am a keen AFC WIMBLEDON supporter and attend all home and some away games. I also like to visit loads of non-league grounds. I also design, produce and sell all AFC’s  badges with all the profits from these badges going to AFC! As far as I am aware we are the only club to have a framed set of badges for every season!

If you click my “sales list” you will find the 100’s of badges I have for sale.  If your club/business require a badge please contact me for production details.

If you have any queries please use my “contact” link.

TERRY“

“Oh, what a night. Late September and we’re shipping three.” With apologies to The Four Seasons who proved to me that I could fall in love/lust with more than person at a time. Well, Manchester United have surely hit rock-bottom. They lost three nil to Spurs at Old Trafford and this must mean the end for ETH. Let’s see. Potter is not the answer, IMHO but the board would not dare bring back my choice, a certain Senhor José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH.

In happier news, Gillingham stride on and beat Barrow to go top of the league! It’s early days and we were in a similar position at the start of last season but I am a LOT more confident this time around. Huge game tomorrow against Grimsby Town. Should be a great night under the lights.

Our intrepid reporter Mr Darren Ashley was at Harborough Town in the 3rd qualifying round of the FA Cup against Leamington and tells this amusing story,

“This is Ben Starkie & myself. Ben plays for Harborough Town who played, and, yesterday, right in front of my very eyes, scored the winner for them as his club reached the FA Cup 4th qualifying round for the first time ever.

After wrapping up filming of my vlog, I made my way to my car, where Ben was parked next to me.

As he had a Harborough tracksuit on, I knew he must have been one of the players, so I offered my congratulations.

We chatted a bit and I said that I had recorded the goal, but didn’t know who scored it

Ben found it funny when he had to explain it was him….I was mortified though

I think I made amends when I said it was a great strike and offered to send the goal to his phone…which he gladly accepted.”

To see the goal, and many other good bits, click through to YouTube

Now, the story takes an interesting turn as who have Harborough Town got in the next round? Oh, my word! Bury. So, the Phoenix that is Bury will have to travel to Harborough with absolutely everything to lose against the club from divisions below! Remember this is literally just 90 minutes away from the First Round Proper where teams from League One and Two appear so Harborough could potentially play Gillingham, Bolton, Portsmouth etc! Ties are due to be played on Saturday, October 12 with winning teams earning £9,375 in prize money and losing sides collecting £3,125.

Thanks Darren and good luck to Harborough Town ….. unless they draw the Might Gills!

A group of grassroots football coaches are taking part in a gruelling 28-mile fundraising walk in memory of a much-loved Chesterfield fan.

Glenn Kirkwood, also known as ‘Kirky’, who played for and managed a number of local sides including Matlock Town, sadly passed away, aged 47, in July this year from cancer.

Football coaches from Wingerworth Junior Sports Association, where Mr Kirkwood volunteered, will be trekking from Chesterfield’s SMH Group Stadium to the home of Doncaster Rovers , which is where he started his professional career.

The Spireites and Rovers clash at the Eco-Power Stadium this Saturday at 3pm so this is seen as the ideal opportunity to raise some money for Ashgate Hospice and MacMillan nurses.

The team of volunteers, aged between 24 and 50, will be setting off at midnight and walking the 28-mile route with the aim of being in their seats in the Chesterfield end in time for kick-off.

When they make it to Doncaster, the group say they will raise a ‘well-earned pint’ to their friend and hope that the Spireites can put in a performance against his former team.

Mr Kirkwood was a loyal Chesterfield supporter with season tickets with his wife Kerry and children Jessica and Isaac.

His playing and managerial career took him from Doncaster to being joint-manager at Matlock Town as well as to Ilkeston Town, Burton Albion, Hinckley Town and Worksop Town.

If anyone would like to support these WJSA coaches fundraising for Ashgate Hospice, please DONATE HERE.

This should stir some feathers! Adrian Durham, yes he of talkSPORT, has finally completed the 92. He has visited all 92 stadiums in England and Wales in the Premier League, the Championship and Leagues 1 and 2. Welcome to the “92 club.” He has also created a list of the Top 10 Grounds in England and Wales. This is obviously highly subjective and borderline confrontational. It is HIS TOP 10. Whilst I can offer my number one (Gillingham) and my equal ninety one (Arsenal and Milton Keynes), I am struggling to think I could or even would want to rank them 1 to 92 or even 1 to 10. Adrian has put his money where his mouth is and listed them. Brave Boy! It comes as no surprise that I disagree with him as I am sure 99.9% of all supporters do …… but it is definitely a good balloon debate! Here goes!

So, in the interests of debate I will add Manchester United and Gillingham (of course!) and now the next eight. Mmmm. Despite their fans being anti I will add West Ham United’s London Stadium and few will argue that Spurs new stadium is hugely impressive. Impressive but on a smaller scale is Brentford’s Community Stadium. Liverpool’s Anfield needs to be there for atmosphere as does the Stadium of Light and Goodison Park. Quirky is a word I could use to describe Loftus Rd. I have watched some great games there ….often in sub-prime conditions! To finish the ten, I will add Aston Villa. Sad to leave out Hillsborough, St James Parks (Exeter and Newcastle), Stockport County and Millwall. How did Craven Cottage and Plough Lane not make the cut? In fact sad to leave any out apart from The Library (Arsenal) and the Fake Stadium at Milton Keynes.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – Dave Baldwin

One man who has visited many of the these stadiums and has painted them too is Dave Baldwin at Papilios Creative. I think I will ask which he prefers.

I will now let you into a secret; Adrian’s list bears little resemblance to mine. A quick tally shows we agree on precisely two ….. and his second would be my 90th (being generous!)

If you want to see his entire list click here to the official talkSPORT website

Well, it’s that time of the week again when we rejoice at Gillingham’s good form, lament FC Deportivo Galicia’s defeat in the FA Vase and laugh uncontrollably at Arsenal. As we have a BIG story today, let’s do these quickly.

Yes, Gillingham now sit joint top of League Two with Barrow. Sadly, because of alphabetical order, we are showing as second but hopefully a win against them on Saturday will see us top! Maybe they will have their minds set on a huge Stamford Bridge game against Chelsea tomorrow. Well done, guys. Good luck to Barrow against the prima donnas. FC Deportivo’s Vase adventure stopped at Wembley. No, not the National Stadium but at Vale Farm, the home of Combined Counties side, Wembley FC. The difference in class was apparent from the first minute (when they scored!) and we were hugely fortunate that their strikers must have missed at least a dozen good chances. Oh well, let’s concentrate on the league. The biggest laugh of the week is, of course, reserved for Arsenal who conceded a last minute equaliser at Manchester City. Looks like they have blown their, “this will be our season” claim very early this season.

Everyone’s favourite vlogger, Sir Darren Ashley was out and about this week and it was a VERY special day as his visit to Kettering Town’s game coincided with their charity day for Team Mikayla. Darren say, “My favourite vlog I’ve done, simply because Mylayla is such a fantastic and selfless person, and I want her charity children’s cancer charity Team Mikayla to have as much exposure as possible…so, please please give this one a watch.” “Amigo, it would be rude not to. What made Saturday equally special is that our friends from Proper Football were there too and have uploaded a super overview of the day so my readers get double-bubble today. Pop over to Proper Football to see how they covered the day.

Kettering Town – The Poppies

The vandalised Facilities

This is an interesting story that has caught my eye this week and highlights the good and bad in football/life/society.

Tragically the club house, changing rooms and other facilities at Pelican Colts FC ground in Nottingham were totally destroyed in an orgy of vandalism. The Chairman, Steve “Coco” Chaplin, says, “it was the worst case of vandalism he had seen at the club in decades.

“I’m absolutely gutted,” he said. “God knows what the kids are going to feel like.

“It’s a kids football ground, not adults – this is a youth football club. I’m struggling to take it all in.

“It’s beyond me. Why? For what reason? We’ll carry on, there’s no doubt about that, we’ve got a lot of good friends and everyone will muck in and do their bit.

“We could do with help from the council whose land it is but we’ve had absolutely nothing from them. Not a phone call, they don’t do anything.”

Volunteers arrived at the site on Thursday morning to find paint had been splattered across the changing rooms and the goalposts had been brought down.

The toilets had also been smashed with porcelain strewn across the floor and a fence had been broken where access had been gained. Following the attack, a fundraising campaign has raised more than £5,000 and local tradesman have offered their services to repair the damage.

General manager Tony Hatton said: “The football community has really got behind us in the past 24 hours. The response has been fantastic.

“The amount of people who have offered help – it’s just skyrocketed. It’s amazing how people have been able to dig deep and offer the club a lifeline.”

Mr Hatton said he “didn’t see the point” in reporting the recent vandalism to the police again as he believed there was “very little they could have done”.

A police statement said: “We received a report of criminal damage at Dave Eastwood Sports Ground, in Lenton Lane, Nottingham, on Friday 6 September.

“Officers attended and found fencing had been damaged. It is believed the incident was related to an unauthorised encampment.”

Nottingham City Council, which owns the site, said in a statement: “We lease the ground to Pelican FC and as per the lease agreement, they have sole responsibility for looking after the site – including repairs, maintenance and in this case the removal of travellers.”

So, a pretty despicable act and I can’t say I am hugely impressed with Nottingham City Council wiping their hands of everything. Well done to all who rallied round but look at this…..

The Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis wrote in a September 18 letter to the club’s chairman, Steve Chaplin: “I was saddened to hear about the recent vandalism that has caused considerable damage to your club and its facilities. It is deeply frustrating to see a place that means so much to so many people in our community subjected to such deplorable behaviour…

“I hope this contribution helps you rebuild and improve your facilities, ensuring that Pelican Colts FC continues to thrive as a welcoming space for young aspiring footballers in our city. Together, we can turn this unfortunate incident into an opportunity for growth and renewal.”

He donated £8,000 and Wales international Brennan Johnson, who started his career at the Pelican Colts club, have both donated money.

Well done to all who have supported.

The Good, the Bad and the (very) Ugly.

Evangelos Marinakis

You will remember I mentioned Chris Buckley at Pride of Nottingham yesterday. We got into a conversation about football later and I found there is an amazing backstory to his website cum forum.

In the same way as TheShirt2010 was inspired by Bjørn Heidenstrøm and his cycle ride from Oslo to South Africa , so the Pride of Nottingham was inspired by another Sweden …none other than the recently departed Sven-Göran Eriksson!

Chris kindly gave me an overview. Fascinating!

Chris says, “I previously ran a website that was focused towards writing and art, such as poetry, songwriting and digital art which back then was in its early forms. I started the site at first just amongst family and friends. This was around 2006, it was just a simple message board but I had aspirations of making it bigger.

Around 2009, I met Sven-Goran Erikkson at my work place and he noticed that I was wearing a Notts shirt. This got us speaking and it was him, who encouraged me to take it more seriously. I wasn’t sure, as I am quite reserved in nature but I have a huge passion for Notts County. Obviously, Notts had an amazing season during Sven’s time and we we’re eventually crowed Champions of League Two. This gave me a nudge to start pushing it. It was 2012 when I first promoted the site but the socials was setup in 2010, possibly before. It’s those early days which I feel pushed my passion further, as fans really got behind the Facebook and Twitter pages. I own and run it but I have a dedicated team who assist me with writing fan opinions and moderating. These people are huge to the success of the site itself.

We currently have 1,419 registered accounts, we average between 30-100 active and casual members. Page views is like 25-30,000

I would say I spend about 10 hours on the project most days, with match days being about 5 hours. To be honest, it’s not about the time. I feel passionate about the club and showcasing Notts in the way that the Pride of Nottingham does. I would also say that I have a few health issues and the site helps me focus on something positive whilst at the same time, I hope I am giving something back to all of us who proudly follow Notts.”

Thanks, Chris. Wow, some story! Inspired by Svennis himself – incredible. It is too easy to remember his successes across the continent and with the England team. Let’s not forget what an immense job he did at County in a relatively short period of time. Respect to Svennis….and, of course, respect to Chris. Running websites is never easy. Many of you will know I have a 2,500 website about Spain ….. that is also a real labour of love!

I am just about to ping Chris my thoughts on Gillingham 2024 but in the meantime, if you are a Notts County fan, I suggest that you pop over to see the PrideOfNottingham to see what a huge resource Chris has built.