28/08/21 Review: Weston-super-Mare vs Metropolitan Police

Weston-super-Mare 0-1 Metropolitan Police (Southern League Premier, South Division) The Optima Stadium

Bank Holiday weekends are a thing of beauty and in particular the August edition always makes for some great groundhopping. The chances of decent weather are as high as they can be in this country, so this time around I headed off to the South-West of the country in search of a triple-header. Having ticked off fifteen grounds in the region already, The Optima Stadium would be my 207th ground altogether but astonishingly my first Southern League Premier, South Division ground.

Behave yourself lads, the police are in town

Last weekend's trip to Essex to see Basildon United beat White Ensign in the FA Cup took me to what traditionally had been more geographically familiar territory for this match's visitors who played in the Isthmian Leagues up until 2017/18. The 2018/19 restructure saw them shuffle over to the Southern League which means they face many trips across the M4 nowadays, being one of the league's most Easterly outfits. Compared to the 500-mile round trip to Truro City, this mere three hour each way trek across to Weston-super-Mare would be considered light work for the lads. Having travelled almost three hours myself from Stafford in the delightfully caravan-heavy Bank Holiday traffic, I was grateful at least to be spending three days in Severn Beach with Pint of Football's other half, Tom, to make it feel a bit less of a mission. Arriving in the Somerset seaside hub by around 2pm, I met up with local loony Andy Baxter so we could observe our first trip to The Optima together.

Always a pleasure to remind an Everton fan what proper football looks like

Both sides had made reasonable starts to the 2021/22 campaign, with WSM starting the day in 3rd place after two wins and one defeat, whilst the Met Police sat just below their hosts having won one game and drawn their other two so far. The Seagulls and the Old Bill were expected to contest a fierce game in the sun and in my pre-match prediction I guessed that the hosts would just about edge it- wrongly backing the home side for a 2-1 win. Weston-super-Mare has a fairly rich and unique history within the beautiful game, having been moved around the leagues over the years. Interestingly, they have only ever suffered one relegation in their 134 year history and that came in 2019. Their highest ever league position was a 7th place finish in the 2012/13 edition of the Conference South and a couple of years later they raked in their largest crowd in an FA Cup bout with Doncaster Rovers. The club has gone as far as the Second Round in the world's oldest cup competition and also boast a trophy cabinet filled with local cups such as the Somerset Premier Cup as recently as 2019 and the Western League title of 1992. Their opponents on the other hand are mainly known for being the team of the Metropolitan Police and perhaps more substantially for their recent run in the FA Cup where they unfortunately lost out to Newport County in a match that could have arguably gone either way.

Alas, we're here for some Southern League action this time

The Optima Stadium is a decent ground and although it's not the best step three non-league ground in the country it's definitely a good effort. Rumours are that the club aims to rebuild and shoot for the EFL in the future, but as a first-time viewer I'd be pretty happy to call this my local. For the game in question, things kicked off as expected with the hosts on top- although the visitors very much had the best chances of the first-half. Baxter and I were slightly distracted by the fact that a local "character" came over and spent as much time as he could spare telling us all sorts of weird and wonderful stories of the club. I won't go into too much detail in the blog, but highlights from the Scotsman included tales of being a Berwick Rangers fan years ago, apparently getting sacked by the Seagulls twice whilst serving as a steward for the club. Safe to say that we soon moved away from the storytelling senior in order to try out the bar whilst the action on the pitch continued to unfold. With a pint in one hand and a portion of chips and curry sauce in the other, it was time to get stuck into the game.

No goals to report yet, though

Despite the first-half ending goalless, there were plenty of decent chances with the hosts hitting the bar from range and the Met had a couple of golden opportunities themselves that their striker some how didn't put away. Much like with my other August games to this point, it would prove to be a tense goal with only one goal to separate the teams. With Eurovision banger "Euphoria" playing at the start of the interval, we got chatting to a different character from the ground and this time it was a travelling supporter the kit man from the Old Bill's team. Unlike the whacky tales shared with us from the home fan earlier, this guy gave us an interesting exchange of conversation which included a bit of information about the Met's Imber Court ground, how the club operates in terms of relying on youth recruitment due to their low budget, the lowdown on how the club have been finding trips to the likes of Swindon Supermarine and Taunton Town compared to Canvey Island and Leatherhead, and most crucially he told us a story about how the club made an enemy out of Theo Paphitis whilst the Dragon was the chairman of the Isthmian League. Between the crazy Scotsman ranting at us about how stewarding should be done and this guy from the Met, we'd learnt all we needed to know about the two clubs on display and with that we took up a standing position away from the crowds for the start of the second-half.

Photo of the main stand, located behind the goal and housing plenty of home fans

According to the matchday announcer, the official attendance at The Optima Stadium on this day was 537... which may or may not have included the 1 away fan/kit man from The Met. But ultimately it would be the visitors who got the decisive goal with around fifteen minutes left of play- a corner was swung into the WSM box and defender Bernard Tanner rose like a salmon to head home. The only goal was enough to maintain their unbeaten run. Weston 0-1 Met Police. After the goal the hosts continued to put pressure on the Police, but despite the efforts of their big target man Mike Symons and former EFL striker Dayle Grubb, the Met made it to the end of the 90 minutes without the ball entering their goal. A hard blow for Weston to take after dominating large spells of the battle, although questions will no doubt be asked about why their possession didn't lead to more regular chances. Lloyd Humphries, a Welshman formally on the books of Cardiff City, snapped up the Player of the Match award but ultimately it'll be a pretty hollow honour after he was unable to inspire his team to at least one of the three points they'd have been hoping for before kick-off. And with the August Bank Holiday the games come thick and fast for the clubs, with Weston-super-Mare hosting midtable Tiverton today (Monday) and Met Police will head out for their fourth of five straight away days as they face local rivals and fellow unbeaten club Walton Casuals. No doubt I'll keeping an eye on how these two clubs progress with their respective seasons, but in the meantime I'm going to sign off with a thanks to the Seagulls for hosting a decent game on a sunny Saturday afternoon which provided me with another chance to tick off a really good non-league ground. Keep up the good work and best of luck for the season.

There's plans for a new ground, but personally I'm a big fan of the Optima

And as for the Met Police, it seems a weird thing to write down but I look forward to visiting you in the future- hopefully in a non-legal capacity!

17/10/20 Review: Long Eaton United vs Sporting Khalsa

Long Eaton United 2-0 Sporting Khalsa (Midland Football League Premier Division) Grange Park

As most of you will have seen by now, my adopted team for the 2020/21 season are Sporting Khalsa and after seeing them home and away for their past five matches, it was time to make it six on the spin yesterday as I was back on the road over to the East Midlands for another Midland Football League Premier Division encounter, this time between the top two sides in the league so far as Khalsa took on Long Eaton United at what would be my 197th ground in total. Overall, I had seen the Willenhall based club play eight times so far and although this one would be a huge challenge, I so far boasted that I had a 100% win record when watching the blue and yellow side play. Since the first visit to the Aspray Arena back in early 2016 where I watched on as Stafford Town were demolished 0-8, I have always loved watching Khalsa play and considering their aggregate score in my company was 30-7 before this game, I'd say that must also love having me there too. Today's game between first and second would be a whole other prospect, though.

The fans piling in for the big game

This latest groundhop was a very straightforward 88-mile round-trip across the A518 from Stafford and then on to the A50, meaning that I arrived in good time for the game and had plenty of opportunity to have a wander around the ground, starting off with a mooch over to the fenced off second pitch next to the main entrance to Grange Park which was hosting an Under 16's match. I wasn't here for the kids though and so after a brief glance I headed over to the turnstile in search of the main event, meaning that it was time to mask up, check in and hand over my six quid so that I could enjoy more of the good stuff at my ninth new ground of the season and my twelfth overall in the MFL Prem.

First stop, though... the bar!

Today's hosts for Sporting Khalsa were rebranded in 1956 as Long Eaton United, following a couple of other variations before that can be tracked back to the early 1900's. The Blues have been a fairly stable non-league community club throughout time, with the best highlight I can find from their history coming as Long Eaton St Helens when they won the 1912-13 edition of the Central Alliance League. Since then, they've been known for being the club who gave the world Notts Forest legend Garry Birtles, the owners of "The Big Jim Stand", and the former club of Montserrat international striker Vladamir Santos Farrell! Last season before the league was dismissed United were a decent midtable side at best- and more significantly a whopping seventeen points off their visitors today, meaning that their stunning start to the 2020/21 season would have come as a surprise to many. The big question on everybody's lips will be whether they are the real deal and will they be the latest in a line of clubs who have pipped the likes of Sporting Khalsa and Coventry United to the post?

If yesterday's match was anything to go by, they could be

Grange Park has been the club's home since the 1950's and it is one of the best all-rounders I've been to in the division so far. No, it's obviously not as fancy and well-kept as Coventry United's Butts Park, but it has a much better atmosphere. I'd argue that it's not as rustic and classic as Gresley's Moat Ground, but it feels better in other ways in terms of facilities, pitch quality and so on. Ultimately, it's certainly one of the best for having "proper fans" and it looked as though there was a bumper crowd cheering the team on for this match. The beers (and Jagerbombs!) were flowing, the social distancing was being exercised in the clubhouse and everyone was well up a well-fought game. Roll on 3pm...

The infamous "Big Jim" Stand in the distance

I placed myself over by the dugouts across from the main stand for most of the first-half as I expected an end-to-end affair- my prediction for the game was for a 2-3 classic which would see Khalsa extend their lead at the top to nine points, albeit still at a time when clubs have played anywhere between five and nine games before kick-off. The match began with the expected explosion of action and even the 2018/19 MFL Player of the Year Sean Williams was starting for Khalsa at right-back just a couple of weeks after he was an impact sub striker, scoring in the 6-4 win for the visitors against Selston just 17 miles up the M1. Just eight minutes had passed in the bout when Kam Campbell sprung the Khalsa offside trap to run through and slot past the underwhelmingly on-rushing Sam Arnold. United 1-0 Khalsa. Moments later it was Khalsa with a big chance and throughout large spells of the first-half it was the visitors in control despite only really making chances through set pieces. The closest they came to a goal was from Gibraltar international Jake Gosling, with the midfield maestro only being denied his third direct corner goal of the season by the crossbar, whilst at the other end Arnold made a magnificent point-blank range save after being initially caught in no man's land from a Long Eaton attack.

Ian Rowe on the touchline certainly wasn't too chuffed with it all

Frustrations started to build from the visiting team as Rikardo Reid went in to the book for a rough challenge on a Long Eaton man, but then just before the break the same player almost made amends as the forward struck a fierce drive down the throat of debutant Jake Askew in the United goal. Half-time soon came around and as I headed off to the bar to refuel the players headed down the tunnel into the underneath of the main stand to do the same, with the key difference being that I spent the fifteen minutes queuing for a packet of Monster Munch before attempting to avoid the swamp like toilet which was flooded in all areas.

Not that I'm complaining... those MM were pretty damn tasty

Feeling optimistic for more goals, I watched the second-half unfold from behind Askew's goal, which turned out to be a fairly unfortunate decision as most of the action was happening over at the other end, with the Blues looking to try and kill the game. The hosts had a really good game management plan to tackle Khalsa and they executed it well, reducing the away side to bitty chances at best, and as the half developed it felt more like a chess match with Long Eaton looking toward Kieran Walker's long-throws and Khalsa praying that Gosling's set-pieces would eventually come good- a bit like watching Rory Delap versus David Beckham!

Things just wouldn't go right for Khalsa today

I constantly felt myself clock-watching into the final few minutes as I still had the feeling that there would be another goal to come and of course it would be one that decided the game as United looked to seal the points and Khalsa looked to snatch one for themselves. As we rode into stoppage-time it would be the well-drilled home side who got the win as they broke forward on a decisive counterattack and the ball eventually was gifted to Mitchell Robinson so that the substitute could round off a perfect day in the office for the Nottinghamshire side. "We are going up" chants began from the stand as the Blues knew that they'd cut Khalsa's lead at the top to just three points, but more importantly with two games in hand AND a superior goal difference. United 2-0 Khalsa. A huge win for Long Eaton and with a home game next weekend against winless Haughmond the ball is well and truly in their court now.

They will welcome the Shropshire strugglers with confidence

As I'm only now three grounds away from the big 200 it's really hard to put plans into action in order to make it a special occasion. Locally, I'd probably opt for something like Ilkeston Town as it's one I've always fancied. Ideally, I'd be heading off to somewhere exciting abroad for it, but realistically I don't think that will be a reasonable option for me in 2020 so I am still very open to any suggestions anyone may have... and in the meantime I'll be continuing to go to as many Khalsa games as possible knowing that I won't get to a new ground with them until Boldmere St Michaels in mid-December. Good luck to both of the clubs from the game yesterday for the rest of the season, I can imagine it being a very interesting battle for top spot again this year and these two should be right in the mix come the close of play.

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03/10/20 Review: Selston vs Sporting Khalsa

Selston 4-6 Sporting Khalsa (Midland Football League Premier Division) Mansfield Road

Well, it's not often that I get home from a game and have to sit in a dark room contemplating what just happened, but after this outing to Mansfield Road for my latest away day with Sporting Khalsa, that was just the case. Stay tuned for an action packed write-up which features a ten goal thriller, a very inconsistent set of officials, a high-speed car chase, a six car pile-up and cans of Guinness for a quid! Not quite the routine victory I'd expected when I set off from Stafford for another crazy afternoon of Midland Football League groundhopping.

The calm before the storm

One week on from my last trip across the Midlands to the East side, which was also for an away game with Sporting Khalsa as they overcame Heather St John's in Leicestershire, I was on the road again and this time rather than criss-crossing the region's rickety country roads, it was a much simpler (albeit longer) journey across to Uttoxeter, past Derby and then up the A38 to get to Selston. The large village, which borders Mansfield and Nottingham, would be the fifth non-league ground I'd visited in the area, having notched off South Normanton and Heanor Town in the Summer of 2017, Holbrook St Michael's in 2018 and most recently Basford United's Greenwich Avenue in December 2018. Yesterday's outing to the former East Midlands Counties Football League side would be not only a new experience for me but also for today's visitors, being as how last season's version of this game never got chance to happen due to COVID-19's closure of the 2019/20 season. If the one game they did get to play against each other last campaign- a 7-0 Khalsa win- was anything to go by then we'd be expecting goals, goals, goals. Having said that, even my pre-match prediction of 1-4 to Sporting was nowhere near the mark on this occasion and after making the 52 mile trip to Selston it would prove to be a memorable afternoon.

Albeit not the most inspirational of grounds

On many an occasion, a sodden Saturday afternoon game at a ground that isn't much more than a field with a tuck shop would be considered a poor outing, but this would not be one of those occasions. The village team, who share the ground with the cricket club, have a very typically basic facility at Parish Hall on Mansfield Road and overall I'd say that the place as a classic "village team" vibe going on. Growing up in the small East Yorkshire village of Flamborough Head, I myself feel very homely at places like this and so I thought I'd help out the local economy by heading straight for The Don Basdell Bar to grab myself a bit of pre-match fodder. The selection of hot pastries was far superior to the beer possibilities and although they were serving tinnies I decided to resist the £1 a can Guinness offering and instead treated myself to a sausage roll. It didn't quite rival the Samosas being served up at The Aspray Arena, but I suppose that's just something I'm going to have to learn to accept when following Sporting Khalsa on away outings. With kick-off looming I had a quick natter with Joe and a few of the other visiting members, before circulating around the cricket green until it became a football ground. As I walked around, I got the sense that the home fans were feeling a little nervy for this bottom versus top encounter and one even approached the lino on his way towards the pitch and jokingly said to him "come on liner, we need a big game from you today, lad!"

Good selection of merch in the tea bar...

...although the decommissioned beer fridge is questionable!

For any fellow groundhoppers reading this, you must by now be thinking "but what about the stands? I must know more about the stands" and to you I will now dedicate a few sentences and even a photo to the wall of undercover seating and standing areas, which would house most of the 82 folk in attendance for this one. First up in the Ikea non-league club range we have the seating stand, featuring three rows of customised blue and black seats that are bolted into the concrete floor. This delightfully cosy package is ideal for rainy days and is used primarily by the family friendly home fans, but don't worry if that isn't your deal because stand number two is an all standing effort located just about on the halfway line and makes for a perfect place to stand, look cool and drink bargain Guinness. Finally, completing the collection, is the area that I'm going to call the "away section" because that's primarily where the visiting fans and officials went. This stand is a bit of a "best of both worlds" affair as it includes some seating and some standing areas, suitable for the whole range of travelling fans!

The best you can achieve when you groundshare with cricket

Although I have seen some fairly glamorous adaptations on these football-cricket double whammies, such as Sandygate in Hallem, on today's occasion I was just relieved and thankful that the game was not postponed, but also that there was somewhere dry to enjoy the action from- and yes, there would be plenty of that to come! Despite being the bottom side in the league so far and also last season before the cancellation, the hosts came out all guns blazing and although Khalsa made a couple of early initial half-chances, the first big one came for the Parishioners in the twelfth minute as Kenan Layton eventually finished off a good attack which left the away team looking unusually flatfooted and shell-shocked. Selston 1-0 Khalsa. This early setback appeared to give Ian Rowe and the Khalsa lads the kick in the nads that they needed and as the hosts continued to unsettle their lacklustre efforts to attack in the early stages, they did eventually carve out a chance as Rikardo Reid was the target of a cross into the box and he gratefully watched as his header evaded Brandon Meehan and landed in the back of the net. Selston 1-1 Khalsa. By this stage we hadn't even hit the half-hour mark and I'd already forgotten that it was raining as I walked away from the shelter to get a good view from behind the goal. Selston pressed again to restore their lead and they were rewarded against the visitors' three man defensive setup as Layton once again crept away from the eyes of Adnan Yussif to give himself the time and space so that when he was played in he could strike home his second of the day in the 29th minute. Selston 2-1 Khalsa.

Tes Robinson having too much of the ball for his liking 

Khalsa's club captain and former St. Kitts & Nevis defender Tesfa Robinson, who I've seen many times for Khalsa by now, was understandably fuming at how the game had panned out so far and his thoughts were echoed by Ian Rowe in the dugout, with particular frustration being unleashed on the linesman who was inconsistent at best. Throughout the match, we'd see the guy hobbling up and down the muddy line giving all sorts of weird and wonderful calls against both sides. A particular highlight was when he eventually got a decision right and raised his flag, only for it to fly out of his hand and into a nearby bush. Meanwhile, back on the pitch we'd see a fourth and final goal of the half as Lee Chilton slotted home to cap off a great move by Khalsa. It was good to see "Chilli" scoring a goal after having watched him run his legs off just a few days ago as a lone-striker for Sporting against Stourport Swifts. When I interviewed the gaffer post-match on Tuesday he was very proud of his ten men for winning the game, and gave particular praise to the attacker, who would again be a shining light. Selston 2-2 Khalsa.

Roll on the second-half!

Despite resisting a pre-match beer, I caved in and popped over to the bar at the break to grab a can to help calm me down, if nothing else. The game had been everything I'd hoped for and although the weather was horrid, I think that it's impact on the pitch made the game much more open than anyone would have expected. To quote my pre-match notes "sometimes the weather erases the form books" and that was exactly the case. I hung around to hear any half-time conversations that might be going on and the one that stood out for me was the last thing I heard as the players reappeared. Gibraltar international midfielder Jake Gosling, accompanied by a Khalsa coach, was told to "do what ya do" and these words will no doubt have played a part in what would follow. Before that though, Selston would go close to a third of the day as a strike in the aftermath of a corner was deflected on to the bar by the saviour Yussif. The lad had a stinker of a first-half in my opinion, but he really came into his own during the second. At the other end of the pitch we'd finally see Khalsa take the lead for the first time as Gosling was gifted the ball by his opposing left-back and even though he still had a lot to do, the goal was never in doubt as he ran in on goal, rounded Meehan and then slotted yet another goal to add to his incredible tally this season. That's six now! Selston 2-3 Khalsa.

Believe it or not, we're only halfway through

With still over thirty minutes left to play, I was starting to wonder whether this game may be in with a shot of taking the 'Pint of Football' record for most goals in a game and although it didn't go on to eclipse the twelve goals seen between Florence FC and Redgate Clayton back in 2017, it would definitely be the biggest score line I've seen at this level! Just one minute after the fifth goal of the afternoon, we had a sixth and this time it would be Panjab international striker Gaz Singh who did really well in the box, wriggling and battling away from the Selston defenders before picking his spot and striking a sweet left-footed goal. The relief and celebrations said it all and as someone from the away end shouted "can I cash out now?" it felt almost as though the points were heading back to Willenhall. Selston 2-4 Khalsa. Selston refused to go down without a fight though and whilst Meehan made a crucial save to deny Gosling a second goal at one end, their visitors seemed unable to cope with the long ball game of the home side from the other, with simple balls up to the forwards causing chaos for an extremely high line of defenders. Jordan Black this time found himself with the ball in a dangerous area and he played in Layton once again. The number 11 made no mistake as he rounded Sam Arnold and tapped the ball home for his hat-trick. Selston 3-4 Khalsa.

The battle brews on

By now we'd made it to 64 minutes of the match and we were on the verge of goal number eight. Khalsa responded, again, to their latest goal conceded as they won a corner. Using their height advantage, the visitors crammed players into the box and as Gosling's corner was met by Matt Fulloway, it was up to Meehan again to make another point-blank save and unfortunately for him his efforts were not rewarded as Reid was eventually able to stab the ball into his net after a bit of pinball in the box. Selston 3-5 Khalsa. Someone broke the actual net during the goalmouth scramble, which led to a couple of minutes delay- and a chance for me to catch-up on my notes! Thankfully for my near-frozen hands, there would be a ten minute break until the next goal as Selston got themselves back into contention yet again. The last goal from the home side had seen Black release Layton and this time the hat-trick hero turned provider by setting Black on his way. Selston's number 10 had far too much time to run in on goal before chipping a lovely striker over Arnold to set up a tense final fifteen. Goal of the game in my opinion. Selston 4-5 Khalsa. The thing that really surprised me about today's game was how leaky Khalsa were defensively- especially after seeing them put in a fantastic display on Tuesday with a 1-0 win over Stourport Swifts WITH TEN MEN FOR MOST OF THE GAME! Maybe it was that gut busting display that took it out of them, perhaps it was the weather, the difference in pitch at Mansfield Road, or even the fairly lengthy commute, but ultimately none of this can excuse such a poor defensive display. However, I'm sure that the one thing that would be of huge reassurance to Khalsa's backroom staff after yesterday is that even when they weren't playing as well as they can defensively, they were still scoring plenty at the other end. After Selston looked to have levelled in the final five minutes, the offside flag saved Khalsa's blushes and that inevitably would be the final warning they needed to shut up shop and see out the win. Sean Williams, who'd arrived in the game somewhere in and amongst the flurry of goals, had been very good for Khalsa since coming on and it was the attacking right-winger who would have the final say in the game. As the hosts pushed for a late equaliser, they would be hit on the break as Williams mugged Jake Paylins at left-back before dashing into the box to score the final goal of the game with literally the last kick of the game Selston 4-6 Khalsa. Men of the match for me were the two number 11's on either side. Layton for his involvement in all four Selston goals, and James McGrady for his constant hunger, aggression and pace on the Khalsa left-wing.

Both teams must go again on Tuesday night

As soon as the Referee blew for the end of the game, he was approached by the home side's manager who called out the inconsistency of the officials. I did tend to agree that there were a host of crazy decisions all afternoon and although there was no biased towards either side, it still made for uncomfortable watching at times. Anyway, having seen so much action I headed back to my car ready for what would hopefully be a quiet and easy drive home to Stafford. Nope- as soon as I approached Derby I would end up being party to a car chase which saw a Land Rover speedily weaving in and our of cars and followed by five police vehicles. I'd seen similar scenes all afternoon watching Khalsa's defenders chasing Layton to be fair, so this was nothing new to me on this occasion. And then to top it all off, when I got back into Stafford there was a pile up of crashed cars on the outskirts, meaning that my drive home took the best part of an hour and a half. Thankfully, it didn't appear as though anybody was seriously hurt. That's it, I'm done... let's see what Tuesday brings as I attend the local derby between Khalsa and AFC Wulfrunians.

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26/09/20 Review: Heather St John's vs Sporting Khalsa

Heather St John's 1-3 Sporting Khalsa (Midland Football League Premier Division) St John's Park

Hello folks, I'm back again and creeping towards the big 200 ever so slowly. At the moment, my efforts to get to a "biggy" to mark my two-hundredth seem likely to be limited to wherever the heck I can get to, so it's time to just embrace the fact that I can get to games at the moment and my short-term plan leads me towards following Sporting Khalsa's 2020/21 campaign after the depressing demise of my beloved Macclesfield Town. Since living in the Midlands, I've always had a soft spot for the Willenhall based club and when I first visited Noose Lane's Aspray Arena back in January 2016 I knew that it wouldn't be my only visit. Having made a second trip in November 2017, I'd say that so far I've been a lucky omen for the club after seeing 8-0 and 3-0 wins, as well as a couple of away day victories too, and after almost three years of not visiting the Aspray I made my triumphant return last Tuesday night to watch a brilliant 3-2 game against Racing Club Warwick, the club who I'd visited on my last outing.

It's an away day for me on this occasion, though

Trying to fill the Silkmen shaped gap in my life, I made plans to utilise my weekend off work by heading off for Khalsa's latest away match as they would hope to keep a hold of their unbeaten start to the Midland Football League Premier campaign. My visits with Macc Town had been as luxurious as cup games at West Ham's London Stadium and the KC Stadium in Hull, with more localised fixtures being at the likes of Tranmere, Chester, Stockport and Burslem, and although my away days with Sporting are going to be on a much smaller-scale, I was still very much looking forward to going to new places that I'm yet to explore, with yesterday's trip to St John's Park in Heather, Leicestershire, kicking things off. Of the nineteen grounds in the division, this would be my tenth tick, and in what felt like a new chapter of my footballing life I was delighted to be being accompanied by Sophie for a rare outing to a ground.

First stop, PINT!

Although kick-off wasn't until 3pm, we left our Stafford abode at noon with the intention of getting to Leicestershire with plenty of time spare to allow for a walk around Sence Valley Forest Park. The less said about our efforts the better really, but after a hellish drive down all of the back roads across the Midlands, we finally arrived at half one and were so desperate for the toilet that we had to forsake the woods walk due to the facilities being closed, meaning that instead we'd make it to the Queen's Head. On the plus side it meant that I was able to enjoy a couple of pre-match pints, but overall it was a disappointing start to the day out in Heather. Thankfully though there would be nothing that could ruin the big game for me and with time almost approaching 3pm we made our way over to St John's Park. The first impressions of the ground were good, as they often are with MFL grounds, and it was nice to see the place looking fresh and ready to welcome crowds back. It certainly wasn't the best ground I'd ever been to at any level, but with a bold blue lick of point on the doors, a modern and stylish clubhouse around the back and what I imagine is old Filbert Street seats populating the covered areas, the place was looking in good nick and had a proper "village team" vibe going on. After making our way through the gates, along the one-way system and into the bar, we grabbed a seat inside the spacious clubhouse. There were less than 100 people in attendance today, so there was plenty of space to sit and mentally prepare for a cold afternoon in the stands cheering on the Khalsa boys.

Can always guarantee a Union Jack or two at small Midlands grounds!

Continuing our walk around the ground, we made our way back outside and over to the main stand, which is located about the half-way line on the far side of the entrance area. We plonked ourselves down as the game began, with Khalsa donning a grey outfit and Heather in a smart all-blue number, ready to see if the visitors could continue to strengthen their grip on top spot in the early stages. At the start of the day, HSJ were 12th in the table after one win and one defeat from two matches prior, whilst Khalsa had managed to already chalk off five matches before this one, winning four and drawing one. It has been an expectedly funny old start to the MFL campaign so far and even though we are less than a month into the season there are already some teams whay ahead of others in terms of games played. Coventry United, for example, were playing just there second league game at the weekend, compared to Khalsa who were on to their sixth. These two teams were top of the pile before the nullification of the 2019/20 season, so it'll be interesting to see whether they will be up there again. Both will have felt that they had a huge chance to win the division last season, but with COVID-19 taking hold of most league's in the world in some shape or another, everyone out there today will have just been grateful to be back playing in front of their adoring fans. Soppy stuff aside though, this was a big game for both sides and if Khalsa are to finally escape the division in which they have finished in the top five of for the past five years since their arrival in 2015, they need to be winning sticky away games like this and if the early signs were anything to go by, this match would be exactly that- a tough, sticky, game against a team who aren't here to make up the numbers!

Let the game begin

Heather St John's, nicknamed The Saints, are a fairly new team to the Premier Divison of the MFL having won Division One just two seasons ago. In their debut to the top flight, they sat in a very respectable position of 5th before the season was halted and they were in fact only five points off 2nd place Khalsa in the prematurely concluded 2019/20 table. Today was their first league game at home and after a slim 1-2 defeat to Cov United, followed up by a 2-0 win over in Selston, it was hard to imagine them rolling over and letting their visitors take the points without a fight. My pre-match prediction was for a 1-3 win for Khalsa today, which I am pleased to say is the first time I've correctly guessed a score on a groundhop for a long long time. Khalsa started the game off slightly better in terms of chances, although it was an explosive end to end opening, as a tenth minute header evaded the flailing Saints keeper only to be denied the opening goal by the woodwork. At the other end, the hosts made some great attacking moves down either wing, with their left-back in particular looking like a class act. It looked as though it would be down to an individual piece of magic to break the deadlock after Gaz Singh was the latest to test Heather's shot stopper, which would be the cue for Gibraltar international and former Bristol Rovers winger to jump in the hot seat as he has done so many times already since arriving at Sporting Khalsa. Stood over the ball for a corner, the man who up until last year was his country's joint-top scorer with two goals in twelve caps, hit a sweet left-footed drive into the box which ended up deceiving everybody and landing in the goal of its own accord. Some will have called it a fluke, but those of us who know Gozza will know that he meant it as the number 8 scored his second direct corner goal of the season- his fifth overall. Heather 0-1 Khalsa.

So far so good for the guys in grey

Believe it or not that wasn't the best corner I'd seen from the 27-year old, and I'm sure he'd agree with me that the set-piece specialist's in-swinger at Wembley for the Gas to set up an Ellis Harrison equaliser in the National League Playoff Final in 2015 will always top that list. The rest of the first-half would remain as cagey as you'd expect from two decent teams both fighting for goals, with the next one coming from practically the last kick of the half. Yahiya Todd, formally of Highgate United, was the man to grab an equaliser for the home side as his low and bobbling strike bounced in off the post to set up what would be a very interesting second-half here in Leicestershire. Heather 1-1 Khalsa.

Getting nippy now

Being a British groundhopper I can't help but talk about the weather and as Soph retreated back to her car to warm up, I stood alone for the next hour in my shorts looking like a deranged loony. Usually at this time of the year I will consider the thought of jeans for a midweek evening match, but Saturday afternoons are categorised as Summer season until December in my eyes, so it was time to grab another beer, stick the hood up and stand in a sheltered part of the ground ready to enjoy an eventful end to proceedings. The lads came back out fired up and ready to do battle again, but not before the tannoy announcer shouted out the local scores from Premier League downwards- something that I thought was an excellent touch for this level!

Call me sad, but I also highly rate a club that plants conifers around the ground

The second-half, much like the first, started off well and there was again an early rattling of the post, this time from the home side who were only just denied taking the lead for the first time. They would live to rue their luck as this would ultimately be a turning point in the match in a case of "what could have been" if the Saints had gone ahead, as the next massive chance would fall to the visitors and it was one that they did not miss. Khalsa had made a couple of personnel changes throughout the half and when they were awarded a penalty it would be one of them who took the chance to put Khalsa one step closer to three more points. Heather 1-2 Khalsa. And in a game that would see both sides continue to look for goals, the forth and final strike of the day would fall to the same sub striker again as the away side's goalkeeper of all players would bunch a big ball up to his forward. Some calamity at the back allowed the ball to fall kindly into his path, meaning that the result was all wrapped up and ready to take back to Willenhall. Heather 1-3 Khalsa.

The end of a busy second-half for this lino

Next up for Heather St John's on Tuesday night is an away trip to Long Eaton United, whilst Khalsa are back at home for the arrival of Stourport Swifts and that is also the destination for my next match. I now sit just five new grounds away from 200 and with October plans to check out Nottinghamshire's Selston and Long Eaton grounds, as well as a ground in Leicester on the 10th, I should find myself very close to the big anniversary. The big question is, where will I be celebrating? Keep tuning in to find out!

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22/02/20 Review: Redditch United vs Nuneaton Borough

Redditch United 3-2 Nuneaton Borough (BetVictor Southern League Premier, Central Division)

The Trico Stadium

Every so often you get the opportunity to experience an ultimate afternoon of football and although that it is a rare thing to come across, this is exactly what Tom and I would come across last weekend as we travelled back in time with a train ride down to Redditch to see the bottom side United taking on Warwickshire side Nuneaton Borough. Would the ground be one of the best we'd seen? Perhaps. Would the game feature goals galore, ugly scenes between the away fans and a player? Possibly. Would we drink too much beer and end up stranded in Wolverhampton on the way back to Stafford...?

Almost certainly!

Just one sleep on from the visit to Deeside Stadium for a gusty Welsh Premier League top versus second battle in which the mighty Nomads overcame the Saints and we were out and about again for a trip south this time. For me, this would be my eighth BetVictor Southern Central ground out of the twenty-two and for West Country based Tom it was his second, having only previously seen Keys Park in Hednesford to set the bar high in what he expected of the grounds at this level. My last outing to a ground in this division was earlier in the month and actually just four miles down the road over at fellow strugglers Alvechurch- I saw them play out a fairly entertaining goalless draw at Lye Meadow against Leiston just three weeks prior. Of course, it would be nothing compared to this absolute classic that we'd see here at The Trico Stadium and when we arrived into Redditch train station we made predictions for a Nuneaton win. I went with an audacious 0-6 whilst Tom predicted 1-4, which when you consider the hosts had scored just one in their last eight, whilst conceding a staggering twenty-eight in the same spell, wasn't a completely unrealistic guess. As we entered the ground, we overheard two fans from opposing sides talking pre-match predictions and the Nuneaton fan ended by saying "well these runs have to come an end at some point"- indeed!

They'd need the help of the Gods to muster up a first league win since August Bank Holiday

It's safe to say that in the groundhopping circles there is a lot of good to be said about the Trico Stadium and having seen pictures of the ground from many who've raved about it, I must say we were instantly impressed with the place as we entered from the main turnstile on Holmwood Drive. Not only were the stewards greeting us friendly, but we automatically felt like we'd stumbled on to an absolute classic in the form of this old school ground and the legendary main stand, clubhouse and dugout megamix stood out as the feature-piece amongst the more modern features such as the green fencing around some parts and also the plastic pitch. As I've gone on record and said before, with grounds such as Bromley's Hayes Lane, I would much rather see a club spend money on investments to improve their pitch and facilities rather than ploughing it into the generic newfangled stands that half of the non-league seems to be popping up at the moment. This, in a word, is a proper bit of footy ground!

What a welcome...

... what a paint job...

... and oof, there's the big boy!

Of course though it's not just about the rustiness of one's seats, nor is it the boldness of one's paint job, there is also the delights of the clubhouse to explore- and that we did. The Reds Bar, in the higher tier of the stand, is simple but successful as it offers a great selection of beers and also the chance to catch the game from the indoor comfort should one choose that as their fate. We decided to be braver than we'd been the previous night during the near-hurricane winds at Deeside and we went out to pitch-side just as the action began. Nuneaton, still in contention and searching for the playoffs, were kicking from right to left from our stance and they got off to a decent, albeit not electrifying, start by attacking Redditch. This battle of red versus blue, another satisfying feature for me when I attend a game, was surprisingly end-to-end considering the form of United and although their goal-scoring form was poor I'd picked out St Kitts and Nevis international striker Romario Martin as the one to watch for the hosts, whilst spotting Luke Benbow, formally seen at Stourbridge, as my Nuneaton threat. Of course, this was not my first time watching the Boro this season and I made my debut to Liberty Way at the back end of last year when they lost to rivals Rushall Olympic, and although they hadn't been playing at their best so far they did strike first in this five-goal thriller when Isaiah Osbourne grabbed the opener and opened up the groans from the stands as you almost could hear the 190 in attendance thinking "here we go again". Redditch 0-1 Nuneaton.

Don't worry, Redditch fans, there was am unexpected storm brewing

Half-time rolled around and we retreated back into the clubhouse just to check that our respective clubs were having an equally as depressing time as the one we were visiting. A quick check on Sky Sports News confirmed that Macc were 0-2 down at local rivals Crewe whilst Tom's beloved Rovers were holding on to a 0-0 which would eventually become a sad 0-3 away at the Stadium of Light. Ahh well, at least we still had the second-half to come at The Trico (or "The Treatco" as is it should be known) and on the hour-mark it was the former Boro boy and aforementioned international striker Martin who banged the equaliser past Tony Breedan. Redditch 1-1 Nuneaton. And before we'd had chance to get comfy again we were jumping around with joy from the clubhouse window as Boubakar Traore, not to be confused with Boubacar Traoré who plays in the Moldovan Premier League, nor the Malian Blues singer, scored Redditch's second goal in as many minutes to send the crowd into a delirious mix of shock and joy as the Reds took the lead for the first time. Redditch 2-1 Nuneaton. By this stage the game was starting to feel like anything could happen and as the hosts began to dream of a first league win in almost six months there was a further twist in the tale as Nuneaton were awarded a penalty. The fresh-faced substitute stepped up to take it, but Powell's strike was denied by Kieran Boucher and I honestly feel that this was the first time that the home fans started to believe that it might just be their day.

We housed ourselves in the Sallie Swan Stand for the remainder

With Nuneaton now throwing bodies forward, the aim for Redditch would be to soak up the pressure and counter, which is exactly what happened with less than ten minutes remaining as Martin was able to strike again and hopefully give the hosts that vital win- only their third in the league as of yet. Redditch 3-1 Nuneaton. Frustration was at a peak from the visiting fans by now and as captain, star striker and top scorer Benbow was brought off they made their feelings heard by throwing abuse towards him in a manner that I would certainly consider unnecessary. I obviously wasn't the only one to think this as the main man himself came back out afterwards to confront the fans and although it didn't lead to physical violence it certainly did get ugly in the stand. In the meantime, most of the Nuneaton fans appeared to forget why they were here as basically nobody was watching the game as Miles Addison grabbed a stoppage time goal which in more positive circumstances could have given the fans a chance to give one last roar as Nuneaton looked to salvage a point. Redditch 3-2 Nuneaton.

Debatable, after those displays

Obviously it was only a handful of people involved in the negativity and I'm not suggesting that the Nuneaton fanbase were to blame, but it did somewhat sour the afternoon for short moment and I was glad to see the guy who was being the most verbally involved removed from the ground, which instantly defused the situation. Credit where it is due to the stewards and of course to the team on the pitch for grabbing that huge huge win which sees them move to within five points of second-bottom Alvechurch- albeit still fourteen off safety! I wasn't lying when I said this blog entry had it all and I have no idea how my next one will even try to top it. Thanks for reading.