Coventry City FC

Coventry City 3 Watford 1 - Football League Championship

Coventry is the eighth largest city in England and the eleventh largest in the UK. Coventry is traditionally believed to have been established in the year 1043 with the founding of a Benedictine Abbey by Leofric, Earl of Mercia and his wife Lady Godiva (who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in England in order to gain a remission of the oppressive toll imposed by her husband on his tenants). Has anyone noticed the last four digits of Coventry City FC's telephone number? - 0870 421 1987. Well I suppose if it the only recordable event in the club's history then I ought to forgive them !

www.100Groundsclub.blogspot.com

I first saw Spurs at Highfield Road in 1976/77 and every time since, therefore it did seem strange attending a Coventry home fixture at a different venue. I was able to cadge a lift from Mike Francis (him of Ramsbottom fame) and we took advantage of the 'Park and Walk' facility. On leaving the M6 we parked up and 10 minutes later were at the Ricoh Arena. It is no exaggeration to say that this is a splendid venue, the design enables a good view from all areas. My seat was 4 rows from the front and swirling rain for most of the match meant that every so often I was treated to a refreshing vapour. By half time most of my new found Sky Blue chums had vacated to rows further back but I am made of sterner stuff. Having said that, at the break I was able to wander to the other side of the stadium and settled for 'doing a Throp' for the second period. Paul Throp advocates the corner panoramic view at matches and I agree that this gives a very good view.

www.100Groundsclub.blogspot.com

Coventry won the match 3-1 but were far from convincing. Watford if they had took their chances and made the most of long periods of dominance would/should have won. Worryingly the floodlights went out twice. Once before kick off and once early into the match. On reflection (sorry) it was dimly lit before both failures which were only for a matter of seconds. After the second failure the delighted tannoy announcer stated 'we are back on mains power !' - I don't recall being told that we were not in the first place. Teething problems perhaps. The ground was half full and City are not blessed with a large fan base. Plenty of tickets therefore for visitors. I am unable to provide info relating to proximity to the railway station but can confirm that there were plenty of buses outside the stadium at the end of the match. Back home in bed before midnight - thanks Mike - a decent trip indeed.

Attendance: 16978
Admission: £21.00 (seems standard for all matches throughout the stadium)
Programme: £3.00 (Obtained for you Stan)

The subsequent visit by Smid

Highfield Road in retrospect

Airdrie United FC

Airdrie United 0 St Mirren 1 - Scottish League, Division One

Scottish Football League

The history of a settlement near modern-day Airdrie may be dated back to AD 577, which was the year of the Battle of Arderyth. This was a battle between Rydderych The Bountiful, King of Strathclyde, and Aeddam The Perfidious, King of Kintyre. While few have heard of the main protagonists, amongst Aeddam's contingent was the Celtic bard, Merlin. Merlin's patron, Gwennddolan, was killed during the battle in which Merlin was awarded for his verses recording the battle. The history of Airdrie between the Battle of Arderyth and AD 1162 is unclear, due to the scarcity of written historical records. Airdrie owes its existence to its location on the "Hogs Back" - the ridge of land running from east to west.

It was important to move on quickly from the Grimsby Town experience. This jaunt to Scotland provided such an opportunity. Once again the relatively cheap Ryanair fares enabled the assembled party to fly from Stansted to Prestwick on the morning of the match. I was joined on this occasion by Dennis, Womble and Karaoke Bob Gilligan. The latter (a true Glaswegian) is always good value on journeys to his homeland, if only to act as interpreter. I should add though that as the day wears on, others sometimes have to substitute for the interpreter if he gets tired. Any beer consumption is purely coincidental.

The Three Judges

Having took the train from Prestwick to Glasgow, we then detoured to Partick in order to sample the real ales on offer at the Three Judges . This bar is possibly the best real ale venue in Glasgow at present. From there we caught a train direct to Drumgelloch, which is the nearest station to Airdrie United's Excelsior Stadium. I would estimate that it takes 15 minutes to walk from there. The Stadium is tidy with uniform seated accommodation on all four sides.


St Mirren edged a keenly contested match by 1-0, the goal being a superbly struck first half free kick. St Mirren were supported by a very large contingent who were rewarded by going top of the division with this result.


The pies in the ground were good but I would also agree with Andy Scott that any club would have to do well to beat those at Kilmarnock.
After the match it was back to Glasgow where we visited the Pot Still, a renowned Whisky establishment also selling real ale and finally the 'Toby Jug' which is next door to the chip shop. I am pleased to report that there was no repeat of the Dennis sausage incident encountered after our Livingston jaunt in May as on this occasion his greed was not challenged (three sausages in batter and chips) - no comments please Duck !
We caught the last flight of the day from Prestwick back to Stansted and I was surprised to see a group of Leyton Orient fans doing likewise. They had played at Carlisle and had somehow managed to get between there and Prestwick for what must have been a worthwhile exercise (they won too). Worth looking into for Queen of the South or Gretna !




Attendance: 2073
Admission: £15.00
Programme: £2.00
Fare: £5.55 from Prestwick to Drumgelloch with Ryanair discount

Basildon United FC

Basildon United 2 Hullbridge Sports 2 - Essex Senior League


The first historical reference to Basildon is in records from 1086. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book as 'Belesduna'. The name 'Basildon' means 'Beorhtel's hill' and is derived from the Anglo-Saxon personal name 'Beorhtel' and the Anglo-Saxon word 'dun', meaning hill. In historical documents, this name had various forms over the centuries, including Berdlesdon, Batlesdon & Belesduna. The constituency of Basildon is thought to be a barometer of public opinion in General Elections. The results of the constituency have been the same as the overall result of the General Election since 1974.

Town Centre 1960s

I had previously attempted this venue and was thwarted by a very late postponement last season. On that occasion I was able to familiarise myself with some of the back streets of Basildon and a shorter route to the railway station was found. It is certainly fair to say that Basildon United are a club a long way from their recent past when they graced top level Isthmian football.

The club, and even more so the ground, has seen better days. If the club were ever to aspire to promotion then considerable work would be needed to smarten (I'm being polite) the ground. The main contributory factor appears to be the lack of support from the local community. Compared to my recent visits to smaller places with presumably less potential as 'football towns' (Ely and Mildenhall) where the community do appear to be involved, this is sad.
The attendance of 38 was certainly very low and boosted by a good few from visiting Hullbridge Sports. There is a licensed bar at the ground but potential visitors might want to plan ahead if looking for solid refreshments unless of course crisps and nuts will suffice.

As for the match, a dull opening half hour gave way to a progressively better remainder. Basildon scored just before the interval and netted again midway through the second period. Hullbridge, a little unfortunate to have been trailing at the break were stung into life by the second goal and immediately reduced the arrears with a fine shot from 30 yards (Pieman still not metric). However, this was surpassed by a stunning equaliser from just inside the half. In the end a decent match with probably the right result.


Basildon railway station is a bit of a trek from the Gardeners Close ground and I had already resigned myself to catching the 22.36 train to Fenchurch Street. However, my reconnaissance mission last season, meant I could cut through some housing estates. I remember thinking upon spying a bus stop "wouldn't it be nice if a bus came along!" A minute later I was on a bus clutching a 60p ticket. I was then able to catch the 22.06 to my preferred Liverpool Street, thus increasing the quantity of required beauty sleep. Such adventures!



Attendance: 38
Admission: £5.00
Programme: £1.00 (obtained for you Andy & Stan)
Fare: £3.15 Cheap Day Return from Boundary Zone 6 with Goldcard discount

Mildenhall Town FC

Mildenhall Town 1 Cambridge City Reserves 1 - Eastern Counties League Premier Division

Eastern Counties League

The history of the small market town of Mildenhall can be traced back to Anglo-Saxon times although nothing remains of the original settlement except for a large cemetery just outside the limits of the present town. The Domesday survey of 1086 recorded that the town was well established with a church, a mill and a total of sixty-four families, not to mention a flock of a thousand sheep. The whole of the manor of Mildenhall belonged to the abbey of Bury St Edmunds and the abbot had total control over the area, including the right to hang criminals in the market-place.

Saturday's football schedules were disrupted by the international fixtures. A lot of non league fixtures were moved to earlier kick off times and one such fixture was that between Mildenhall Town and Cambridge City Reserves (1pm). There is no rail station in Mildenhall and if travelling by train you would need to catch a bus from nearby towns such as Newmarket or Littleport.

A Pieman family excursion enable me to attend this fixture with wife and daughter exploring the town whilst Harry Hotspur and I took in the match. I am always keen for Harry to expand his knowledge of this wonderful game but Mildenhall assisted greatly by allowing accompanied children free admission.

On arrival in town I was given directions to the ground by an American. Not the only such accent heard on the day but on reflection, I should not have been too surprised considering the presence of the US Air Force in this part of East Anglia.

A decent match finished honours even at 1-1. Mildenhall have a tidy, if compact, Recreation Way stadium only a few minutes walk from the town centre. It backs onto the local swimming pool and surprisingly also benefits from an enormous (free) town centre car park. All the required facilities are down one side of a sloping pitch. I did not sample the burgers Bob, but trade was brisk.

Attendance: 105
Admission: £4.50
Programme: £1.00

Mrs Pieman reports a very interesting local museum in town with references to the 'Mildenhall hoard' now stored in the British Museum.

The following extract from the match programme relates to Mildenhall's F.A. Cup meeting with Potters Bar Town the previous weekend and will no doubt interest Kevin Wilmot (part of this circulation and match secretary for Potters Bar).

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From the Editor.

Last Saturday saw us progress to the next round of the F.A. Cup with a 3-1 win against Southern League's Potters Bar Town. The visitors arrived in a very smart coach, pity they didn't bring some supporters in it ! Once again a home cup game will cost the club money, we have to pay the visitor's expenses and from a gate of 140 (mostly home supporters) apart from paying for the big coach, we also have to pay the officials too.