Ilford FC

Ilford 3 Barkingside 2 - Essex Senior League

Ilford is a district of the London Borough of Redbridge. Ilford was historically known as Great Ilford to differentiate it from nearby Little Ilford, in the London Borough of Newham. It is bounded in the west by the North Circular Road and the River Roding and is contiguous with Barking to the south, Gants Hill to the north and Seven Kings to the east. The name is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Ilefort and means ford over the Hyle; an old name for the River Roding that means "trickling stream". Little Ilford shares the etymology. A number of major businesses have been founded in the town, including the eponymous photographic film and chemicals manufacturer Ilford Photo. This was founded in 1879 by Alfred H. Harman, a photographer from Peckham, who established the business in a house in Cranbook Road.


This Pieman took a train from London Liverpool Street to Seven Kings, the nearest station to the Cricklefield Stadium. It only takes a few minutes to walk from there.

Spennymoor United FC

Spennymoor United 3 Ossett Town 0 - Northern Premier League

Spennymoor is a town in County Durham, England. It stands above the Wear Valley approximately seven miles south of Durham. The town was founded over 160 years ago. The Town Council area, which includes the villages of Kirk Merrington, Middlestone Moor, Byers Green and Tudhoe, has a population of approximately 20,000. Spennymoor was where Henry Bessemer discovered and patented the Bessemer process which revolutionised the world we live in by allowing the mass production of steel and pig iron at a low cost. Dating from 1183, The Whitworth Hall estate was owned by and home to the Shafto family for over 300 years, including County Durham MP "Bonnie Bobby Shafto", made famous by the well known ballad and nursery rhyme. It is now the site of Whitworth Hall Hotel and the deer park for which the estate is famed is still well tended, as is the walled garden.

www.footballgroundz.co.uk

The Pieman's visit to Brewery Field was en route to a match at Sunderland the following day. We were staying in Durham overnight and Spennymoor was an ideal stopping of point. Having watched a feisty Manchester derby on TV at a nearby pub, it was a joy to discover Black Sheep on handpump in the clubhouse at the ground.


www.footballgroundz.co.uk

Misfortune struck the club in 2005 when they folded, causing controversy over unfulfilled fixtures. The club was reborn as Spennymoor Town, taking over Evenwood Town and played at the Brewery Field albeit several leagues lower than previously.

Spennymoor United at the Football Club History Database

Leyton FC

Leyton 1 Tring Town 0 - Isthmian League, Division Two

Leyton is an area of east London and part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The main route through the town is the High Road, which forms part of the ancient route to Waltham Abbey. At the top end of the High Road is a crossroads with Lea Bridge Road and Hoe Street. This junction and the surrounding district is known as Bakers Arms, named after the public house which still stands at the spot. The pub was named in honour of the almshouses on Lea Bridge Road built in 1857 by the London Master Bakers’ Benevolent Institution.

Leyton Football Club was founded in 1868, and has disbanded several times (late 1890s, 1911 and 1914) in its history. In 1975 the club merged with Wingate to become Leyton-Wingate F.C., until 1992 when they reverted back to being plain Leyton. In 1995 the club merged with Walthamstow Pennant and moved away from Leyton Stadium to become Leyton Pennant F.C., now known as Waltham Forest A new Leyton Football Club was set up in 1997, and following a High Court case in 2002, successfully won the right to be recognised as an official continuation of the original club. Leyton F.C. play at the Leyton Stadium (previously known as the Hare and Hounds, and before that as the Wingate-Leyton Stadium).

Programme: £1-00 (36 pages)

Haverhill Rovers FC

Haverhill Rovers 3 Halstead Town 1 - Eastern Counties League, Division One

Haverhill is an industrial market town in Suffolk, next to the borders of Essex and Cambridgeshire. It lies 14 miles south east of Cambridge and 50 miles north of London. Haverhill is the second largest town in the Borough of St Edmundsbury. The name of the town is pronounced 'Hay-ver-hill' or 'Ayveril' by locals. Dating back to at least Saxon times, the town's market is recorded in the Doomsday Book. Whilst most of its historical buildings were lost to the great fire on 14 June 1667, it does however retain one notable Tudor house (reportedly given to Anne of Cleves as part of her divorce from Henry VIII, and thus titled Anne of Cleves House) and many interesting Victorian buildings. Following a planning review in 1956, Haverhill was targeted for expansion. This was primarily to resettle communities from London, which had been devastated during World War II. As part of this plan, new housing settlements and new factories were built. This influx of people changed many aspects of life in Haverhill. One noticeable change is that the local Suffolk accent (still spoken by the town's older residents) has largely been replaced by a London/South-east England accent that is characterised as Estuary English

To reach Hamlet Croft by public transport would have involved something akin to a military operation. Once upon a time the town had two railway stations. Today it would be necessary to catch a bus from either Cambridge or Sudbury. I was delighted on this occasion that Mrs Pieman was willing to drive.

Bristol Rovers FC

Bristol Rovers 1 Lincoln City 2 - Football League, Division Two

Archaeological finds believed to be 60,000 years old, discovered at Shirehampton and St Annes, provide evidence of human activity in the Bristol area from the Palaeolithic era. By the 14th century Bristol was one of England's three largest medieval towns after London, along with York and Norwich, with perhaps 15,000–20,000 inhabitants on the eve of the Black Death of 1348–49. The plague resulted in a prolonged pause in the growth of Bristol's population, with numbers remaining at 10,000–12,000 through most of the 15th and 16th centuries. Bristol's city centre suffered severe damage from Luftwaffe bombing during the Bristol Blitz of World War II. The original central shopping area, near the bridge and castle, is now a park containing two bombed out churches and some fragments of the castle.

Bristol Rovers FC was founded in 1883 as Black Arabs F.C., and was also known as Eastville Rovers and Bristol Eastville Rovers before finally changing its name to Bristol Rovers in 1898. They were admitted to the Football League in 1920 and have never dropped out of it since. The team play their home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city. The club is their distinctive blue and white quartered shirts, which they have worn for most of their history.

Staying at Weston Super Mare for the following day’s League Cup Final at Cardiff, enabled a good opportunity to visit this venue. We were able to walk from Bristol Temple Meads station stopping off for refreshments en route. I recall a very good variety of cornish pasty being available in the ground.

Programme courtesy of Jamie Howarth Bristol Rovers Memorabilia

Belper Town FC

Belper Town 0 Gretna 2 - Northern Premier League, Division One

Belper is a town within the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England. It is eight miles north of Derby, on the A6, by the River Derwent. At the time of the Norman occupation, Belper was part of the land centred on Duffield held by the family of Henry de Ferrers. The Domesday Survey records a manor of "Bradley" which is thought to have been somewhere in the vicinity of the Coppice. At that time it was probably within the Forest of East Derbyshire which covered the whole of the county east of the Derwent. It was possibly appropriated by William de Ferrers, 4th Earl of Derby at some time after it was disafforested in 1225 and became part of Duffield Frith.

Belper Town FC was established in 1883 and joined the Midland League in 1961. After the 1981-82 season, Belper Town joined the Northern Counties East League Premier Division, winning the title in 1984-85. After a second place finish in 1996-97, they were promoted to the Northern Premier League First Division. In 2007, Belper Town competed in the inaugural season of the Northern Premier League Division One South.

This Pieman’s visit to Christchurch Meadow was an opportunist one. Spurs were playing a lunchtime Saturday fixture at Pride Park. On conclusion of that fixture we opted to get back to the railway station which proved a good move as the traffic around the ground was gridlocked. A taxi ride in heavy rain had us doubting if we would see a 2nd match, but on arrival we were pleased to see the ground open and visitors Gretna along with the home side were warming up.

I recall some excellent hot food at the ground and a pretty decent Gretna performance too. We made our way back to Derby by train, stopping off at the Alexandra for some fine ale, before heading back to London.