Non League Mystery Tours

My first non league game for some time tonight in the Sussex County Cup 2nd round and a rain and windswept Shooting Field for tonight's tie between Steyning Town Community & Bognor Regis Town. The home side are currently playing at their highest point in the pyramid - Isthmian SE division at Step 4 - whilst their opponents are a step higher in the isthmian premier. And the higher placed team that ram home their advantage tonight, registering an impressive 6-1 away win.

The first day of the new football season (for me anyway!!) and a match between Cray Wanderers FC (London's oldest club) and Sheffield FC (the worlds oldest club) in The Heritage Cup, to celebrate the opening of Cray Wanderers new stadium at Flamingo Park on the Sidcup by-pass. A nostalgic day for me as this was my first visit here since I was a young boy when this was the National Dock Labour Board sports ground and my dad played cricket for his works team here just about every summer weekend. Such happy childhood memories. Not such great memories for 'The Wands' today as they got thumped 0-4 by their south yorks (though currently north Derbyshire based) opponents. It was a day of celebration however - Cray Wanderers first 'home' game for 26 years after being exiled at Bromley's Hayes Lane ground due to not being able to install floodlights at their old Oxford Road home. The ground itself boasts a 300 seater stand along one side of the pitch with plenty of room for covered standing behind the seating. Behind one goal is some open terracing leading to the club house and all the facilities. Cray wanderers branded beer cups serving beer at a very reasonable fiver a pop and a barbecue (hopefully not just for this game) serving great tasting and reasonably priced grub! I will definitely be making a return visit, this now becoming my most convenient Isthmian League ground - a 20 minute drive from home.

Tonight I had a short drive into the Deep South - Croydon - to take in a SCEFL Division 1 clash between Croydon FC and Larkfield & New Hythe. There's not a lot riding on the game, Croydon are in mid table, while their visitors have already cemented their place in the end of season play offs.
The bargain concession entry price of £3.50 gets me into the Croydon arena. The stadium has bags of potential but is in a somewhat dilapidated condition. The impressive main stand is currently off limits after a small piece of concrete fell off the side (seems a bit of an over reaction by the council to me). There's a tea bar next to it (tea £1, sausage rolls £1) and on the other side of the ground is some covered terracing. Behind one goal fans are watching from the athletics track. Further behind and up some steps is a small & cosy club house.
Croydon are the better side in the first half and deservedly lead at half time. The second half sees a comeback from Larkfield who equalise late on and grab a winner deep into injury time. Larkfield will be hoping this is finally their year after faltering at the play off stage in recent seasons. On a personal note my visit to the Croydon arena tonight meant I completed this division - at least until the start of next season!

Shout out to our newest followers!
Barry Petty, Nick Thomas

An unexpected window opened up this afternoon to sneak an extra game/ground in. Too good an opportunity to miss, so off I trotted (with Eds) to Bedford Terrace, home of Billingham Town for a Northern League Division 2 fixture, between Yarm & Eaglescliffe (Who groundshare at Bedford Terrace) and Esh Winning. Being a local lad Eds has distant family connections with Esh Winning and I'd seen them completely outplay Redcar Town a couple of weeks ago, so we were cheering the away team.
Bedford Terrace is a good ground for this level. A lovely wooden main stand on the halfway line dominates the ground, housing the dressing rooms. Behind it there's a good sized clubhouse. Opposite the main stand is a covered terrace. The rest of the ground is hard standing apart from a 'bus shelter' behind one of the goals serving as extra cover.
There's a smattering of Esh Winning fans in the main stand where we're sat, but despite a bright start from their team it's going to be a disappointing afternoon for them as the home side run out convincing and deserved 4-1 winners in what is essentially a mid table battle. Crowd 110.

Spending a few days in a hotel in Gateshead for work has given me the opportunity to take in a few games in the north of England, starting with tonight's Northern League Division two clash between Redcar Town and Esh Winning. An hours drive south takes me to Teeside and the Mo Mowlem Memorial Park, the home of Redcar Town. It's been freezing since I've been in the north but thankfully tonight the temperature isn't as low. The ground has seen a lot of development in recent years and now boasts a small stand alongside the pitch in front of the cosy clubhouse. Behind each goal is a covered terrace, which unusually both feature a small seated area at each end. There's a slight design fault in the clubhouse in that it also features the refreshment bar, meaning there's a smell of frying food pervading the place!
This is my first foray into the Northern League, the worlds second oldest league, after THE football league (should never have changed its name to the EFL - be proud of what you are!) Redcar Town is a relatively new club having been formed in 2014 and are playing at their highest level, having previously competed in the Wearside league and the North Riding league. Tonight's opponents Esh Winning represent a former mining village about 5 miles west of Durham. It's the away team that dominates the game tonight, almost from start to finish. The first half finishes goalless despite the away team missing three good chances. You expect the home side to see more of the ball in the second half but it's Esh Winning who exert an even tighter grip on the game but continue to miss good opportunities. The Redcar manager shows his frustration when his forward is caught offside and he berates the linesman. Both linos have been getting stick from both benches throughout the game. Who would be a match official? He's shown a yellow card but continues to argue and is lucky not to see red. Esh Winning finally get the goal they deserve on 57 minutes when a deep cross from the left is headed back across goal and into the net by Reece Brown. They continue to dominate and create chances. On 65 minutes a home striker runs into the back of an Esh defender and tumbles in the box. The ref inexplicably points to the spot. The Esh players convince him to speak to his linesman and after a short conflab he changes his mind and awards a free kick on the edge of the box. Who needs VAR to come to completely the wrong decision? The free kick is wasted and justice is done. It's 84 minutes before Redcar create their first worthwhile chance when a forward breaks clear but his shot is blocked comfortably by the keeper. It shows them they still have a chance of salvaging something from the game and in 89 minutes Esh are punished for not taking their chances when a defender misses a tackle in the box, the ball is crossed and after a short scramble top scorer Carl Williams slams home from the middle of the box. A completely undeserved point is secured. The temperature has dropped in the second half and the below average crowd of 70 head for the warmth of the clubhouse.

A late change of plan took me to Essex for this Isthmian League North Division game between Maldon & Tiptree and Redbridge. It turned out to be a stroke of luck. Not only was it only a fiver to get in but it was also a magnificent game of football. The home side dominated the first half and scored two goals, the second a cracker from stand out player Terrell Egbri. It was the archetypal game of two halves as Redbridge looked a different side in the second period and deservedly drew level. Against the run of play the home side re established a two goal lead. Both teams had numerous other chances in front a lively crowd of 171, in persistent rain. Decent ground and club house too! Non league football at its best.

Now with plenty of time before our 7.15pm kick off, a second division match between RFC Liege and K Beerschot VA we decided to head to the ground, park up and look for something to eat close by.
We arrived at the ground some 2 1/2 hours before the game and see police directing cars to park in a car park close by. We ask them about parking and if there's somewhere close by we can get some grub. They advise us to park up now. We ask why so many people have arrived so early and they tell us "they want to drink!" - and drive?? Surely you shouldn't be encouraging that!! Anyway, we're a long way from any potential restaurants so decide our best bet is to head to the ground and have a scoff there.
We try to enter, flashing our tickets, but are stopped by stewards. "Are you eating?" "Yes, we're starving" "Are you VIPs?" "We like to think so". "Have you booked?". This is where it all unravelled. They were only admitting people who had booked a dinner in advance. There was no general admittance for another half an hour. We were bemused by the fact there's at least 50 people milling about seemingly for no reason in the cold and wind. We tried to find out why but the language barrier defeated us. We're in the French speaking region here and we're unfortunate that 1 - we're English which means we don't speak other languages and 2 - there are far fewer English speakers here than in the Flemish region. We remain bemused until they finally let us in about 40 minutes later, when it's straight to the catering hut!
Before kick off we're chatting in the club shop and when I tell the fella behind the counter I'm a Millwall fan he's very excited. Our former player Christophe Kinet finished his career here and went on to be coach and is apparently a bit of a legend!
The ground, the Stade de Rocourt, opened in 2015 has a capacity of 8,000. There's small stand along one side of the pitch flanked by open terracing on either side. Opposite is what looks like a club house housing the dressing rooms and players facilities and the 'VIP' dining area with upstairs seating. The away section of open terracing is to the left. Behind the goal is a decent sized covered terracing which is where we park ourselves.
Royal Football Club Liege are one of Belgiums historic clubs - they were the first league Champions and have won another 4 since, as well as one Belgian cup. They used to have a huge stadium in the Rocourt district attracting crowds of 50,000, but after years of decline the ground was sold for redevelopment in 1995 and the club was homeless for 20 years.
Tonight's opponents Beerschot are looking to return to the top division two years after relegation. To that end they've recently appointed former Liverpool legend Dirk Kuyt as manager.
Straight from kick off a Beerschot defender air kicks, leaving an RFC Liege forward clean through on goal. He fires into the side netting though and from the goal kick Beerschot immediately go up the other end and score. They look the better side in the early part of the game. Beerschots Croatian keeper Davor Mathijas is booed every time he touches the ball. The crowd behind the goal are pelting him with plastic beer glasses. We're never able to ascertain why. We surmise it could be the ridiculous man bun he's sporting. On 26 minutes the ref dishes out a yellow card to RFC midfielder Ryan Merlen. 4 minutes later he's booked again for a late tackle and shown the red card. A minute later the Croatian Beerschot keeper inexplicably dashes out of his goal to take out the RFC winger who's just broken clear with a wild challenge. The Liege staff and subs are all off the bench and on the pitch. The crowd are baying for action. The ref very calmly awards a free kick for offside and dishes out a second yellow to the Liege manager, sending him off. No action is taken against the keeper. The crowd are now pelting him with beer, glasses, coins, anything they can lay their hands on. Everyone is singing what we can only assume is an unflattering song about the referee. The game is held up for a few minutes. A liege striker pleads with the crowd to desist. They ignore him. There's a long announcement over the tannoy. This actually calms the crowd down and the game restarts. For the rest of the half Beerschot continually get behind the home defence but can't make it pay and we finish the half at 0-1.
You would assume that the Liege coach has been spending the half time break imploring his team to keep their discipline, stay calm and we've got a chance. A minute into the second half Liege midfielder Arbian Arslan lunges into a horrific tackle and is shown a straight red card. They're down to 9 men. Beerschot continue to breach the Liege defence but either mish*t their shot or shoot straight at the keeper. Me and Hucker have bet on all our games being away wins and stand to receive a reasonable pay out if Beerschot can't hang on for the win. We fear they'd profligacy in front of goal will be punished and we're right as in the 52nd minute Liege break at the other end and score an unlikely equaliser. They have their tales up and hold firm against waves of Beerschot attacks. On 72 minutes they break again and hit the bar. Is it possible Beerschot might even lose the game? They continue to spurn chances until on 82 minutes a cross cm shot from the left is fumbled by the Liege keeper at his near post and the ball is stabbed home. There's relief among the Beerschot players rather than elation. The Liege goalie, embarrassed by his mistake, feigns injury for a good five minutes. The goal calms the away side and they now make use of their two man advantage, scoring two more goals including one from D'Margio Wright-Phillips, son of Shaun and grandfather of Ian, who's on loan from Stoke City. The 4-1 win is enough to take Beerschot back to the top of the league. We head off into the night, a three hour drive to Calais ahead of us but happy with a weekend of incident packed football. In fact in my 8 games this week I've seen 33 goals, 6 red cards and a plethora of incidents on and off the pitch. Can't wait til the next trip!

Game 2 of the day. Same division. RCD Espanol B v Europa. A big Barcelona derby! Europa fans made up the majority of the crowd (maybe 2,000) and are an anti fascist club who claim to dislike Espanol with a passion! Their ultras chanted and sang throughout the game which ended in a 1-1 draw. Great support for one of Barcelonas traditional old clubs.

Equivalent of Spanish Division 4 - UE Sant Andreu v CE Andratx. Cracking second half sees the home side win 4-1

Last non league game of the year for me. Essex senior league Tilbury v Takeley. A characterful ground on the edge of the town surrounded by fields. A couple of unique stands on either side of the pitch and a cold wind blowing off the Thames estuary. Tilbury, who are hot favourites to return to the Isthmian League after a great first half of the season make hard work of the game v mid table Takeley but prevail in the end, 2-1 the final score

A dip into the Southern League Premier South today and the divisions form team Salisburys trip to Walton & Hersham on the London/Surrey border. Walton & Hersham moved into their Elmbridge Sports Hub stadium six years ago. It's a very modern arena with one main stand with a clubhouse/ bar on the top level. The rest of the ground is hard standing all around the 3G pitch. It's an extremely blustery day and that affects the quality of the game which is a bit disappointing, especially from Salisbury who look anything but title challengers. A crowd of 573 sees the home side score the only goal after 33 minutes after Salisbury look the better side in the opening 20 minutes. After that the game lacks quality and in truth neither side looks like adding to the score.