Brix not Bricks

BRIXWORTH ALL SAINTS 3-2 MEDBOURNE

Saturday 6th February 2010

Northants Combination Premier Division

St. David's Recreation Ground

After a week off without football due to car problems caused by the engine maintenance pilot light coming on, I am back on the M1 heading south to a game in the Northants Combination with thankfully no problems. My destination this week is the village of Brixworth which is located between Market Harborough (8 miles to the north) and Northampton (5 miles to the south). In 2001 the population was given as 5,162. The village is home to one of the oldest and finest Saxon churches in the country which was founded c680 ad.

The journey from my home in Leicester takes around 45 minutes and is a simple one, taking me down the M1 to junction 19, across the A14 and then onto the A508. The club play on St David’s Recreation Ground in the village, of which the car park is accessed down a narrow drive off the southern side of Foxhill Crescent. The pitch though is adjacent to St David’s Close and the northern side of the afore mentioned Foxhill Crescent. The club share the facilities with the cricket club with a single story building hosting the changing rooms and club house. There are no facilities at pitch side and it is a roped off affair with no dugouts or hard standing.

Today’s match sees them up against Leicestershire side Medbourne, the top scorers in the division and a club that I visited before Christmas for a league game v Whitefield Norpol. The Northants Combination is a league that I have seldom ventured in over the years, and apart from the previously mentioned game my only other match was in 2007 for Rushden Rangers last ever match before their merger with United Counties League Higham Town.

The game was an interesting one that was competitive and committed throughout. It was the visitors who created the first chance when the home keeper pulled off a good save after only a couple of minutes. Brixworth got the opening goal on 33 minutes from the penalty spot, but the awarding on the penalty was hotly disputed by the Medbourne players and officials. I was at the other end of the pitch and did not have a good view of it, but a couple of people connected with the home side it was “dodgy”. Medbourne equalised five minutes into the second half with the best goal of the game. Brixworth re-took the lead on 66 minutes when a cross from the right hand side of the penalty area crept past the keeper and found its way into the net for a very soft goal. The old saying that a team is at its most vulnerable when they have scored could not have been more apt, as Medbourne equalised for a second time just a minute later when a shot was parried by the keeper only for the ball to be headed home from six yards out. Both sides had chances to take the lead and win the game but it was the home side that struck the killer blow with the winner coming seven minutes from time.

Attendance: between 20 and 30

Admission / programme: none

Driving time / distance (Google maps): 45 minutes / 32.7 miles

Lichfield City

LICHFIELD CITY 6-0 KENILWORTH TOWN KH
Midland Combination Division 2
Saturday 23rd January 2010
Brownsfield Park

My original plan was to take in a Leicester & District League (LDL) fixture between Houghton Rangers and Kingsway Rangers, but with all the postponements of late the LDL made some changes to the fixture list and as such Kingsway are @ Magna `73 in a 1st v 3rd encounter. I had already made a visit to Magna’s ground in Countesthorpe a couple of years ago so was now on the lookout for another fixture that fell within my preferred criteria of up to sixty miles away or within an hours’ drive.

A few fixtures caught my attention in the Notts Senior League and Northamptonshire Combination so it was a case of waiting to see what was on due to the weather. In the end I decided to head west and in particular the cathedral city of Lichfield in south Staffordshire. It takes around an hour to get to Lichfield from my home in Leicester and is very easy to get to. My route took me down the A47 towards Hinckley, then across the A5 before turning onto the A38 and then into the town itself.

Lichfield’s population is just over 30,000 and its most well known landmark is the cathedral. The three spires are considered unique amongst medieval cathedral and are often referred to as “Ladies of the Vale”.

The football club were formed in the 1970’s as Beacon Rangers, then changing its name a few years later to Beacon Park – the name of the ground which the club played on. In June 2006 the club changed its name again, this time to the current title. Up until 2008 the club played in the Burton & District League finishing runners-up in their last season before joining division 3 of the Midland Combination. Last season saw City finish in 5th place and with it promotion to division 2. This season they have made a steady start and at the start of play occupy 5th placed with 22 points obtained from their opening 13 games. Opponents Kenilworth Town KH lead the division by seven points from Knowle Reserves with eleven wins from their opening 14 games. The club play their home games at Brownsfield Park which is just off Eastern Avenue on the edge of the town. The pitch at Brownsfield Park is fully railed off with dugouts but there is no hard standing or cover. A decent social club is on the site which has a variety of Lichfield City merchandise for sale alongside hot and cold drinks and hot food in the form of Pukka Pies. No admission was charged but the club issued a sixteen page programme which was sold for £1.

The game itself saw City hit the ground running with three goals in the first fourteen minutes to shock the leaders, this along with hitting the woodwork as well. The remainder of the half and the majority of the rest of the game was an even affair in terms of possession with neither keeper making any save of note. The game was held up for around twenty five minutes around the half hour mark when the visiting keeper suffered a suspected broken hip. As Kenilworth had no substitute keeper an outfield player went in goal and like previously stated was not troubled by the home side. City’s fourth goal with fifteen minutes to play was somewhat fortuitous as the stand-in keeper fumbled a corner and the ball was bundled home. The fifth was added just a minute later when the visitors were awarded a free kick on the edge of the penalty area which was taken by the keeper, but it went straight to a City player who put the ball back over his head and into the net from 35-40 yards out. The last goal came right at the end of the game but I could not tell you anything about it due to being in the clubhouse visiting the mens room.

Overall an enjoyable visit to a friendly club who on this showing should be a good bet for promotion to division 1.

Attendance: 50-60

Google maps driving time / distance: 1hr 3 / 36.5 miles

Websites:

http://www.lichfieldcityfc.co.uk/

http://www.visitlichfield.co.uk/

http://www.lichfield.gov.uk/

Winter break is over!!!

CATERPILLAR 1-2 BLABY UNITED

Leicestershire Intermediate Cup Quarter Final

Saturday 16th January 2010

Caterpillar Sports and Social Club

After five weeks without a game due to the weather and Christmas I am desperate to get out of the house today and take in a game, though after the snow a lot of pitches in the East Midlands are unplayable. Thankfully a check on the North Leicestershire League (NLL) confirms that premier division leaders Caterpillars home game in the Leicestershire Intermediate Cup against Leicester & District League (LDL) side Blaby United is definitely going ahead. The tie (along with other county cup quarter finals) was originally scheduled for last Saturday.

Caterpillar Football Club (unsurprisingly) uses the sports & social club inside the compound of Caterpillar itself on the outskirts of Desford in Leicestershire. If travelling from Leicester to Hinckley along the A47 do not turn right at the junction with the B582 but travel another mile or two towards Hinckley and turn right. This takes you towards the Caterpillar site and the sports ground car park is accessed via entrance number 1. The main pitch is already up to Leicestershire Senior standards with it being fully railed off and dugouts in place. A smart social club is adjacent to the main pitch and serves hot and cold drinks. It looks like either a recent addition or a refurbishment, with Suffolk brewers Greene King getting involved with another local non-league club some 100 miles from their base. This following ground naming rights at fellow Leicestershire sides Hinckley United and Oadby Town.

Records I have for Caterpillar only go back as far as 2001 when they joined division 1 of the NLL and finished in 10th place in the 11 team division. Relegation followed but they only spent one year in division 2 as they won promotion back to division 1 as runners-up winning fourteen of the eighteen league matches played. Five years were spent in division 1 before winning the division in 2008 and promotion to the premier division for the first time. In their debut season in the NLL’s top flight they finished in a creditable fourth place but this season they have hit the ground running, currently unbeaten and recording ten wins out of eleven games played. As is stands they are five points ahead of Loughborough based Genesis having played a game less. Opponents Blaby currently sit in mid-table in the premier division of the Leicester & District League having only played seven league games so far which is the lowest in the division at the present time.

The game itself was not the best but it was underdogs Blaby United who came through a competitive encounter with a last minute winner. Caterpillar probably had the great percentage of possession but were not clinical with the chances created. The first talking point came around the twenty minute mark when a Blaby player was brought down by the home keeper in the penalty area only for the referee to wave play on. From this a different player from Blaby was booked for protesting too much to the official. The opening goal came just five minutes before half time when the visitors broke on the counter attack to make in 0-1 and give the game a much needed kick up the backside. Fifteen minutes into the second half and Blaby were down to ten men when the player who was previously booked was sent off for lunging into one of the home players. Caterpillar did not waste much time in making the numerical advantage count when just five minutes later they equalised when the ball was volleyed home from the right hand side. Further chances were created by the hosts with the Blaby keeper pulling off one excellent save of note, but with extra time looming it was Blaby who stunned the hosts with a last minute goal to put them into the semi-finals.

Admission / programme: none
Attendance: 14 (h/c)
Driving distance / time (according to Google maps): 5.1 miles / 10 minutes

Mid-season report

With nothing better to do on another bright but cold afternoon and games postponed on mass here is my half term report. Nothing though has happened since December 12th due the weather and it is now a fourth consecutive Saturday without any football at all. At the end of last season I made a list of twenty five clubs that I would like to visit this season, and below is that list with a few comments regarding them:

Central Midlands League
Church Warsop MW - still hope to visit, maybe in March or April
Kirkby Town - visited in August
Nettleham - who knows
Pinxton - see above

Leicester & District League
Belgrave - waiting for fixture v Kingsway Rangers
Blaby United - see above
Cosby United - visited in November for fixture v Kingsway
Houghton Rangers - hoping to visit on 23rd January for fixture v Kingsway
Welby Lane United - see Belgrave

Leicestershire Senior League
Melton Mowbray - visited in November for fixture v Barlestone

Midland Football Alliance
Tipton Town - missed fixture with Oadby due to watching Leicester City

Midland Combination
Castle Vale, Fairfield Villa and Meir KA - hope to visit one of them at least before season ends

Southern League
Nuneaton Town and Romulus - same as Midland Combination

Spartan South Midlands League
Ampthill Town - will probably visit sometime in February
Winslow United - withdrew before the season started

United Counties League
Olney Town - plan to visit this season
Rushden & Higham United - will visit this season or next
Sleaford Town - visited in September for their FA Cup tie v Matlock Town

West Midlands (Regional) League
Bloxwich United, Goodrich, Shenstone Pathfinder and Goodrich - would still like to visit one or two before the season ends.

This season my new visits has been across eleven leagues so far with the highest number being in the Notts Senior League. I expect though that this will be surpassed by the Leicester & District League come the season end. A break down is as follows:

Central Midlands League Kirkby Town, Louth Town
Football Conference Mansfield Town
Leicester & District League Cosby United, Glen Villa, Mountsorrel Amateurs
Leicestershire Senior League Melton Mowbray
Midland Combination AFC Smethwick, Shirley Town
Midlands Regional Alliance Melbourne Dynamo
Northamptonshire Combination Medbourne
Notts Senior League Attenborough, Bulwell, Cotgrave Welfare, Magdala Amateurs
Southern League Cirencester Town
United Counties League Sleaford Town
Welsh League Newcastle Emlyn

CIREN

CIRENCESTER TOWN 0-0 THATCHAM TOWN

Southern League Division 1 South and West

Saturday 12th December 2009

Corinium Stadium

The day had been planned for sometime to visit a good friend in Cheltenham, who happens to be a season ticket holder down @ Whaddon Road. This Saturday was chosen because of Cheltenham being away at Chesterfield and withi it I found three non-league games that took my fancy, all of which were in different leagues and also all were within thirty minutes drive of said friends house.

The drive down was pretty much uneventful until reaching the last island on the Stratford by-pass when I went into the back of a silver Audi - not much damage done just annoying. Drama over and I arrived at around 11am and we discussed which of the three games we would choose. The options were:

Cirencester Town v Thatcham Town (Southern League)

Cheltenham Saracens v Wootton Bassett Town (Hellenic League)

Kings Stanley v Axa (Gloucestershire County League)

In the end we decided on the first option and made our way down to Cirencester which would give us enough time to look round the town centre and have some lunch in one of the pubs. Cirencester is a pleasant small town on the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire and we managed to kill a couple of hours which included having lunch in The Crown. The Corinium Stadium is on the edge of Cirencester and has a rural feel about it but I don't know when they moved into the ground but it appeared to be fairly new. Having paying the £8 admission money (which in my opinion is steep for the 8th level of football in England) and £1.50 for a programme we made our way into the bar / clubhouse. The club did have badges on sale for £3, one of course was purchased for my metal collection along with a pint. of San Miguel for £2.75. There is two lots of seating in the ground, both of which straddle the half way lines on opposite sides of the pitch. The one on the clubhouse side appeared to be for club officials only, while behine the far goal there is a small covered area in the form of a lean to which is connected to the boundary wall. 

The game itself was pretty uneventful with the first 15-20 minutes being the most entertaining. Ciren came close within a couple of minutes while Thatcham tried to play on the counter attack, but in the end the defences dominated and the game became a midfield battle. Both teams gave it a go but could not break each other down and ended up cancelling each other out. The game was delayed for around fifteen minutes midway through the second half when the referee was replaced - not the best on a cold afternoon. When the game did resume it carried on in much the same fashion, though the home side did have a goal ruled out towards the end. It was a relief to hear the final whistle and get the heat on in the car to warm up. 

Overall a forgettable game that will not live long in the memory. Nice ground though.

Attendance: 137 (source Non-League paper)  

Park Life

COSBY UNITED 1-7 KINGSWAY RANGERS

Saturday 28th November 2009

Leicester & District League Premier Division

Victory Park

Cosby is a village in the south of Leicestershire in the Blaby district with a population in 2001 of 3,489. Academic wise the village is home to a nursery and primary school while the parish church goes by the name of Saint Michael and All Angels. Sporting wise Cosby has a rugby, cricket and three football teams; Cosby United, Cosby United reserves and Cosby Victory, the latter being United's third team and play in the Leicester City League with the reserves like the 1st team play in the Leicester & District League. All the sports clubs play their home games on Victory Park which unsurprisingly is on Park Road.  

I don't have a lot of information regarding the history of United but they joined the second division of the Leicestershire Senior League in 1951 finishing in 5th place in the 15 team division. Eleven seasons were spent in the division before a runners-up spot in 1962 secured promotion to division 1. A highest finish of 11th was achieved before relegation back to division 2 just four years later, though another runners-up spot in 1971 secured promotion again to division 1. Their stay in the top division lasted just two seasons before relegation back to division 2. United spent just five more years in the Senior League before they resigned in 1978. I don't have any further records for the club between then and 1996. From which they have been ever present in the Premier Division of the Leicester & District League finishing runners-up in 1997 and being crowned champions in 2006. This season they currently sit in 8th place in the 13 team division securing ten points from their opening nine games. Kingsway who were promoted in the summer as champions of division 1 have made an impressive (though expected) start to the season losing only once in the opening seven games, currently in 2nd place three points behind leaders Magna '73 having played two games less.

This is to be my second viewing of Kingsway this season having previously seen them @ Mountsorrel where they recorded a 5-1 victory. It also turns out that a new colleague from work plays for Cosby at centre half and goes by the name of Glenn Walker.

Victory Park was easy enough to find. If heading from Leicester take the B4114 towards Narborough, cross the railway line and then take the first right into Littlethorpe. Stay on the road until you reach a mini-island in Cosby itself. The park is on your right but the car park is round the corner next to the village library. The park contains two football, one rugby and a cricket pitch. The cricket one though overlaps the nearest football pitch which is the one used by United today. For the first time in a District League game I've seen the pitch was not fully or partally roped off. Also at home on the 2nd pitch was Cosby Victory's game in the Leicester City League against Aylestone United 2009.

This turned out to be a comfortable victory for the visitors from Braunstone Town with a first half hat-trick from striker Robbie Ryan giving them an advantage they never relinquished. Prior to the first goal on 14 minutes it was an even affair with both sides having an even amount of possession, but a long ball was knocked down into the path of Ryan who side footed home from six yards. Two minutes later and the previously mentioned Glenn Walker was done for pace on the right hand side, the ball finding Ryan who side footed home again from eight yards out. His and Kingsway's third came on 25 minutes when he rounded the home keeper to put the ball into an empty net. Despite going three down Cosby never let their heads drop and played some football of their own to try and get a way back into the game but thus failed to do so. It did feel though that the visitors took the foot off the gas for the latter period of the half. The second half was barely a minute gone when Robbie Ryan got his fourth when he hit a shot from just inside the penalty area across the keeper into the far corner. Further goals came on 55, 62 and 75 minutes for the visitors before the home side got a deserved consolation with five minutes left when their number ten hit a shot across the keeper into the top corner.

Admission / programme: none

Attendance: 12 (approximate head count)

Late late show

LEICESTER CITY V PLYMOUTH ARGYLE

Saturday 21st November 2009

Football League Championship

Walkers Stadium

An offer of tickets for £10 through the Leicester Mercury newspaper sees me take in my second visit of the season to the Walkers Stadium. The first was for a pre-season friendly against Spanish La Liga side Real Valladolid which Leicester won 1-0 with a goal from Matt Fryatt five minutes from time. This season Leicester have made a solid start having won the League 1 title (3rd division in old money) last season and currently lie in sixth place. They have won seven out of their sixteen games played so far, and have obtained twnety-seven points in the process. Their three defeats coming by just a solitary goal. Opponents Plymouth meanwhile sit one place above the relegation zone having obtained fifteen points from their opening sixteen games.

This year sees Leicester City celebrate their 125th anniversary having been formed in 1884 as Leicester Fosse. Their first game was a friendly against Syston Fosse which resulted in a 5-0 victory, with the site of the game now being covered by Westleigh Road. The club played at various venues within the city (including Mill Lane, Victoria Park and Grace Road cricket ground) before moving to Filbert Street in 1891, though during the early years there it was known as Walnut Street. The move to the new ground coincided with Fosse joining the Midland League having spent the previous seven playing friendly matches. The club spent three years in the Midland League finishing 11th, 4th and 2nd respectively before being accepted into the 2nd division of the Football League. Upto the First World War the club spent all but one season in the lower division with the soliatary top flight campaign coming in the 1908/09 season. Financial problems led to Fosse being wound up in May 1919 with the club being reborn as Leicester City. The years between the two world wars saw the 'new' club spent more time in the top flight with two division 2 titles coming in 1925 and 1936. The club also achieved its highest ever placing when finishing runners-up in the 1928/29 season. When peace resumed the club found itself in the second division again and while as a second division club reached the FA Cup final for the first time in 1949 when they lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers. City contined to be and still are a yo-yo club, though a further three FA Cup finals were reached in the 1960's, but all were lost against Spurs and the two Manchester clubs. In 2008 the club were relegated to the third tier of English football for the first time in their history. You could argue that they have already played in the fourth level with the old Midland League being behind the Football League and Southern League in status at the time Fosse competed in. Let's not ruin a good story hey!

The earliest records for Plymouth Argyle I have are from 1903 when the competed in both the Southern and Western Leagues. This lasted for six seasons when in 1909 they soley concentrated on Southern League football before joining the Football League in 1920 in the newly formed division 3. This was when pretty much all of the top division of the Southern League did the same, and thus the following season a northern division was created by the Football League to balance out the southern bias. I do not plan to delve into the history of Argyle any further here, this will be done if and when I ever watch a home game of theirs and to be honest I can't imagine it anytime soon.

Leicester took the three points with a goal seconds from the end in the fourth minute of stoppage time to deservedly win this encounter. Right from the start the home side were the more attack minded side with top scorer Matty Fryatt coming close after only four minutes. Plymouth had their best spell of the game up until midway through the first half forcing a number of corners and dominating the possession. The second half of the half was all Leicester who bossed the midfield through Paul Gallagher and Richie Wellens, though the chances created were primarily off target. The second half was more frustrating for Leicester as Plymouth put ten men behind the ball at times and seemed happy to play out for a draw. Following a Nicky Adams corner Dany N'Guessan's attempt was blocked on the line by Karl Arnason only for Andy King to score with the rebound. Justice done and Leicester upto third in the table behind favourites Newcastle and West Brom, two of only three teams take the points off the Foxes this season.

Attendance: 27,124
Admission: £10 (special offer)
Programme: £3