Arsenal FC

Arsenal 3 Tottenham Hotspur 0 - Premiership

Premier League

A governmental establishment for the storing, development, manufacturing, testing, or repairing of arms, ammunition, and other war materiel. 2. A stock of weapons. 3. A store or supply: an arsenal of retorts. That is what the dictionary tells us.

Arsenal was originally formed in 1886 by a group of workers at the Woolwich armaments factory in south London, and the club was first known as Dial Square. The name was soon changed to Royal Arsenal, though when the club turned professional in 1891 the name changed again to Woolwich Arsenal. The prefix was later dropped and the club became Arsenal Football Club. For a period it was popularly known as The Arsenal though this was never the club's official name. Arsenal was elected to the 2nd division of the Football League in 1893, and gained promotion to the 1st division in 1904. The club survived in the first division for nine years, high points of that period coming in 1906 when the semi-final of the FA Cup was reached, and in 1909 when a 6th place finish in the league was achieved.

Relegation followed in 1913, but coincided with a major landmark in the club's history. Having played for the previous 27 years at various sites in Plumstead, South London, the club moved to its previous site at Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, North London. The move was instigated by the then chairman, Sir Henry Norris who foresaw greater potential for the club in the north London catchment area. It almost paid off in the following season when Arsenal missed out on promotion only on goal average, and 5th place was achieved in 1915 before the hiatus caused by the 1st World War.

Promotion back to the 1st division was engineered by Norris under somewhat contentious circumstances when the Football League resumed in 1919, and Arsenal has not been relegated since, thus holding the record for unbroken tenure in the top division of English football. The incident remains the source of rancour with local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, along with the earlier move when Arsenal were seen as invading their new neighbours' north London area. Spurs had finished the 1915 season at the bottom of the 1st division, but after the war the league was expanded to include an extra 2 teams in division 1, so Tottenham expected to stay up after the top 2 teams in Division 2 were promoted. However, Norris somehow managed to get Arsenal elected in their place, and elements of the Tottenham support have nursed a grievance ever since.

A less than impressed Dicky Mussels and the East Stand
The new place is only a short distance away from the previous venue. Adjacent to the East Coast mainline the new place has underpinned a vast amount of urban regeneration in the area. The old place has been turned into residential accommodation providing occupants the opportunity to look out of their homes at the spot from where Ricardo Villa scored that stunning goal against Wolves in the 1981 FA Cup Semi-Final.

"Couldn't be much nearer" - Source Google Earth

Readers might be interested in a neutral view of this venue as provided by the Smid. He can not be accused of any North London bias supporting Toon and living 300 miles away.

The Gould Family - Stephen, MK and Kieran

Tim Rigby's subsequent visit

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Steve Norton Column

Hi fans, Steve Norton here. Some of you will recognise me from the old days, if not you may know my son - the Pittsburgh Steeler. It is because of him that I was able to attend this match. He and fellow Spurs season ticket holder, Grandson Haydn, have 'gone over the pond' to watch a couple of Steelers gridiron matches.

To be honest I think the Yank Sports are complete rubbish played by 'Fancy Dans' in crash helmets but then if you attend fondue parties you will have a strange take on most things. I did not bring up my son to enter into this sort of thing. Casey Jones has already had a word. I used to have a season ticket at Ibrox. I went there after becoming fed up with Spurs. After that display on Saturday I might be looking to get back up there.

Yours in Sport

Steve Norton

Those vital 'Yank' Match Reports

Pittsburgh Steelers 20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 3 (3 December 2006)
Pittsburgh Steelers 27 Cleveland Browns 7 (7 December 2006)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------





Attendance: 60,115
Admission: £46
Programme: £3 (obtained for you Stan)
Tea/Coffee/Soup: £1.50p
Pie: £4 !!!!

Highbury in retrospect

VCD Athletic FC

VCD Athletic 3 Lordswood 1 - Kent League Cup, Group A

Kent League

VCD Athletic was formed in 1916 by workers at the Vickers armaments factory at Crayford, originally as Vickers (Erith) FC, and joined the original Kent League upon the resumption of play after WW1. Local Bus Driver obliged by giving me a lift to this fixture and once again we were able to sample the delights of the Dartford crossings. However, all was not straightforward as when we travelled through Waltham Abbey we spied "the Car Park that is the M25".

Traffic on the clockwise section was completely still and we guessed that it would be the M11 interchange where the problem had started. Not too worry though as Local Bus Driver switched to local Bus Driver mode and by taking a trip down memory lane, took us along one of his former routes via Epping, Ongar and Brentwood - no sightings of Throppy (Probably still in Wetherspoons at Basildon - Ed)- we were able to join the M25. Crayford is only a short drive from Dartford and I am pleased to report that we were in the ground in time for the start.

Vickers, Crayford & Dartford Athletic FC - as is the full title of the club - have returned to the Oakwood Ground base this season following considerable work and the installation of floodlights. This is part of a larger sports complex. The football stadium is situated in a hollow. The only covered accommodation is a small stand situated on the opposite side of the pitch to the dugouts.

VCD were good value for their 3-1 win and should have added a couple of goals to their tally. Lordswood contributed to a good match and also managed to miss a penalty in the first half.

Back home in 47 minutes - well done Local Bus Driver!

Photographs courtesy of Local Bus Driver

Attendance: 92
Admission: £5
Programme: £1 (obtained for you Andy, Stan and Glyn, the barman in Phil Butler's local, the Prince Albert in Ely)
Tea/Coffee: 70p
Mars Bar: 50p



The subsequent visit by Groundblogger

Bayer Leverkusen FC

Bayer Leverkusen 0 Tottenham Hotspur 1 - UEFA Cup, Group Stage

Bundesliga

Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the eastern bank of the Rhine, half way between Cologne and Düsseldorf. Population: 161,342 (2005). The city of Leverkusen is a product of economic growth in the Rhine-Ruhr region. It was rural area until the late 19th century. The present city is made up of several villages, originally called Wiesdorf, Opladen, Schlebusch, Lützenkirchen, Steinbüchel, Rheindorf and Bergisch-Neukirchen. Wiesdorf, dating back to the 12th century, was chosen by the apothecary Carl Leverkus for establishing a dye factory in 1860. The factory was taken over by the Bayer company in 1891. The company moved its office to Wiesdorf in 1912, turning the town into the centre of German chemical industry.

Leverkusen was founded in 1930 by merging the above mentioned villages, that had become towns in the meantime. Today the town is home of the somewhat successful football club Bayer Leverkusen.

A mid morning flight on Wednesday from Heathrow to Düsseldorf followed by a short train journey enabled Pieman and Ciderman to reach Cologne, where accommodation had been booked for 2 nights.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bayer Leverkusen U-19 3 Tottenham Hotspur U-19 1 - Friendly Match - 22 November 2006

On the evening before the main fixture, the respective youth teams played a friendly match. This took place at Jugendstadion Kurtekotten, a stadium forming part of Bayer Leverkusen's training facilities, a couple of miles away from the main stadium. The Pieman was privileged to attend.

This venue is floodlit and there is a partly covered terrace running the length of one side of the pitch. Refreshments are available in the main club building which also houses the changing facilities. On a bitterly cold evening, a decent match ensued with the German youngsters taking the honours 3-1. A dozen or so Spurs fans took in this match including the Official Club Statistician, who due to severe frostbite became a rambling wreck, muttering comments about Birds of a Feather being "the best sitcom ......... of it's type" (Get a life Andy - Ed).

Good Bobwin's Chauffeur, a Norfolk Broad, Ciderman (preparing to face a free kick?) & Peter Lee (his camera) sheltering from the cold at Jugendstadion Kurtekotten.

Attendance: 100 (estimated)
Admission: Free
Programme: None
Tea/Coffee: €1.20
Nigel's Salmon Roll with Onions: €1.30

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cologne (Köln), like other German cities, is blessed with numerous bars, restaurants and cafes. Kölsch is a local beer speciality brewed in Cologne, Germany. It is a clear beer with a bright yellow hue, and it has a prominent, but not extreme, hoppiness. It is less bitter than the German standard beer, Pils. Furthermore, Kölsch is a top-fermented beer, meaning that it is fermented rather quickly at 15 to 20°C (60 to 68°F) causing the yeast to rise to the top, while Pils is a bottom-fermented beer fermented slowly at much colder temperatures. Kölsch yeast is often confused with a bottom-fermenting yeast because of its relatively low fermentation temperature. Although Kölsch ferments colder than most ales, it is definitely an ale. It is usually served in long, thin, cylindrical 0.2 litre glasses.

We sampled Gaffel, Gilden, Dom, Sion, Fruh and Weiss Brau. The latter of which was brewed at the pub restaurant of the same name, where we also dined on the Thursday.

Amidst our fact finding tour of the city, we made time to visit the Müngersdorfer Stadion home of 1FC Köln. The club are presently in mid table in Bundesliga 2 and are clearly a shadow of their past. The stadium (capacity 50,997) is impressive and it is ironic that neighbours Leverkusen with half the capacity are prominent in the higher league. A 15 minute tram journey from the centre of town takes you directly to the stadium.

A similar tram journey takes you to the lesser known Bezirkssportanlage Köln-Süd, home of SC Fortuna Köln. This club have fallen on hard times and following insolvency, currently play in the fifth division (Verbandsliga Mittelrhein) where they finished 7th in 2005-06.

Our hotel was only a few minutes walk from the magnificent Köln Cathedral, the world's tallest building from 1880 to 1890. 82% of the city was flattened as a result of allied bombing during WW2 but remarkably the cathedral survived. We took the opportunity to explore and were impressed with this mighty, but dark, structure. I will remain impressed despite Walthamstow resident Poddy comparing it to Hogwarts from Harry Potter. After his similar comments (Prague - Walt Disney) earlier this season, I am relieved he did not venture to the Besiktas match, as explaining his appreciation of architecture to the Turks might have been a tall order!

On the evening of the match, a short train journey to Leverkusen followed by a 15 minute walk enabled us to reach the BayArena; (capacity 22,500). The stadium is covered throughout which was welcome on a very wet evening. Electric heaters positioned above the spectators meant that nobody would be cold (would have been nice just to have had one of these at the youth team match - Ed). Tottenham Hotspur maintained their 100% record in this competition this season, courtesy of a goal from Dimitar Berbatov, who joined from Leverkusen this year.

On the Friday, prior to our return flight, we opted to explore Dusseldorf and took the opportunity to sample a couple of the local brews, Frankenheim and Schlösser. These beers are very different to those brewed in Köln and are known as Alt. The altbiers of Düsseldorf are the classic examples of the style: copper in colour, dry and with a long hoppy finish. Very pleasant indeed and considering how close the two cities are to each other, an excellent reminder of the different cultures that exist within Germany.

Glad to get home Friday evening though and crossing London via the tube from Heathrow took twice as long as the return flight. Mrs Pieman is to be congratulated for my first cup of tea since Tuesday - very welcome and our continental cousins can not match us on that score!

Attendance: 22,500
Admission: €25 or £17 as paid to THFC
Programme: Cover price €1 but distributed free very inconsistently. The Pieman obtained a few extra for selected individuals which as ever includes Stan and Glyn, the barman in Phil Butler's local, the Prince Albert in Ely)

Erith Town FC

Erith Town 2 Greenwich Borough 3 - Kent League

Kent League

Erith lies on the banks of the River Thames in the area now covered by the London Borough of Bexley. The history of the town is inextricably bound up with the river – indeed, there was once a royal dockyard just to the north-west of the present town centre. The name Erith dates from Saxon times and means ‘muddy harbour’ or ‘gravelly landing place’. The earliest reference to the area is in a Latin charter of 695 recording a grant by the Bishop of the East Saxons of certain lands at Erith. >

Erith suffered heavily from bombing during the Second World War because of its proximity both to the river and to the Royal Arsenal Partly due to this and to the decline in local trade after the war there was a major redevelopment in the 1960s. Unfortunately many of the original buildings were lost but some of the original townscape remains.

Erith Town FC play at Erith Stadium, an athletics arena located 5 minutes walk from Erith station. The site also contains a leisure complex run by Bexley Borough Council and includes an indoor swimming pool. As is often the case with such venues, spectator facilities for football are a bit different. However, backing onto the Leisure Cente is some seated accomodation from which a decent view can be obtained. there is no cover however, for this reason Harry Hotspur and I were grateful that it was just cold weather that we had to put up with. The remainder of the stadium does not offer any other spectating facilities. Refreshments can be obtained from the Leisure Centre but a short walk across the running track leads you to the athletics pavilion and changing rooms which Erith Town use for refreshments. On a day like today the hot drinks were most welcome and there is room to sit and watch Sky Sports News on TV.

Erith Town are struggling this season and prior to today's match, had failed to score in 11 of their 20 competitive matches this season. However, within 15 minutes today they were 2-0 up against high flying Greenwich and were playing some 'good stuff'. The visitors did score soon afterwards and took the points with a couple more strikes in the second period.

Attendance: 49
Admission: £5
Programme: Included with admission with extra copies @ £1 (obtained for you Andy, Stan and Glyn, the barman in Phil Butler's local, the Prince Albert in Ely)
Tea/Coffee/Soup: 50p
Hotspur's Cheese &; Onion Crisps: 30p

Dartford FC

Dartford 0 Boreham Wood 3 - Isthmian League Cup, 4th Round

Isthmian League

Dartford is the principal town in the borough of Dartford. It is situated in the northwest corner of Kent in South East England, 16 miles (25 km) east south-east of central London. The town is situated in a valley through which the River Darent flows, and where the old road from London to Dover crossed: hence the name, from Darent + ford. Although today it is principally a commuter town for Greater London it has a long history of cultural importance.

Long before Mick Jagger and Malcolm Holmes, the first people appeared in the Dartford area around 250,000 years ago, a tribe of prehistoric hunters called Swanscombe Man (a piece of skull from Swanscombe Man can be seen in the Horniman Museum, Forest Hill, South East London), and the town's situation has meant that many people have lived there through the ages: there have been finds from the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. The Romans engineered the Dover to London road (afterwards named Watling Street) which crossed the River Darent here; there was also a Roman villa. Noviomagus (Crayford) is close by. Dartford is mentioned in the Domesday Book, written after the Norman invasion in 1086.

The Pieman visited Dartford's old ground, Watling Street, in 1989 for an FA Trophy tie with Dorchester Town. At the time Dartford were managed by Peter Taylor, currently in charge at Crystal Palace.

This subsequent visit was to Princes Park, Dartford's brand new stadium. This was the second ever competitive 1st team match at the new venue. Local Bus Driver kindly offered me a lift and although this was via the M25 in the rush hour, we had a decent journey from Cheshunt. Crossing the Thames, as many will know, involved using the splendid Queen Elizabeth II Bridge for the journey South returning via the Dartford Tunnel. Louise Bell informs me that the nominal toll charged also helps fund the Woolwich Ferry.

There has been a lot of publicity surrounding Dartford's new Princes Park Stadium. The terraces are fully covered by an innovative green 'living roof' and a terrace walkway right around the ground makes access easy for everyone, including those in wheelchairs. One side of the ground is seated with the remainder terraced. The ground can be reached from Dartford railway station in little more than 10 minutes.

Having won their first league match at their new home on the preceding Saturday, Dartford were given a real test by Boreham Wood in this cup match. The visitors always had the edge without being totally convincing and scored 3 goals, of which 2 were sliced into their own net by Dartford defenders.

Access to parking on the night was a bit of a problem. We opted to park in Darenth Road and this enabled a relatively swift departure. I was home an hour later and am grateful to Local Bus Driver for the excursion.

Photographic contributions courtesy of Local Bus Driver.


Attendance: 1087
Admission: £9
Programme: £1.50 (obtained for you Andy, Stan and Glyn, the barman in Phil Butler's local, the Prince Albert in Ely)
Tea/Coffee: 65p
Pizza: £1.99
Queen Elizabeth II Bridge: £1
Dartford Tunnel: £1



The Pieman's earlier visit to Watling Street

Tim Rigby's visit - First match at Princes Park

Rosie's subsequent visit

Harlow Town FC

Harlow Town 0 Tottenham Hotspur XI 8 - Marc Salmon Testimonial Match

Isthmian League

Harlow is in West Essex and borders with Hertfordshire. It is conveniently situated for London, only 40 miles from Cambridge and has good transport networks to neighbouring towns. With a population of approximately 80,000 people, it is a thriving, busy town, with a variety of shops, businesses and recreational facilities.

Harlow was built as a new town in 1947 and designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd. He designed it around separate neighbourhoods each of which included a health centre, local shops, schools and community facilities and all surrounded by green wedges.

Harlow continues to develop to cater for the growing local community with new housing, the development of the Town Centre and constant improvements to education and the environment, all of which make Harlow the perfect place in which to study, live, work and play!

I first saw Harlow Town play in the old Athenian League back in the early 1970s. Between then and moving away from the town in 1994, I was a regular visitor to the Sportcentre. Monday night fixtures became a ritual - it was either that or Coronation Street and Wetherfield didn't stand a chance against the Owls !

The highlights for me during this period saw both Southend United and Leicester City (Second Division Champions that season with Gary Lineker up front) humbled in FA Cup replays at the Sportcentre in 1980. Apologies to Dave Bond and Stewart Henry respectively for these reminders.

Harlow Town have mutated from being Owls and are now Hawks. At long last they now have a new stadium at Barrows Farm. Having endured many years shared with Athletics facilities, it really is a boost to the club to have a 'proper' football stadium.

The new stadium is situated on the edge of town at the Pinnacles industrial area and would take about 25 minutes to walk to from Harlow Town railway station. I was very impressed with what I saw and I think all concerned with the club can be very pleased with the place. It has been a long time coming but worth the wait. A very modern looking 400 seater stand is situated along one side, containing function rooms overlooking the pitch. This also houses the administrative block, bar and dressing rooms. There will be some envious glances from visiting clubs in the Isthmian League Division One North and higher up the pyramid. On the opposite side there is covered terracing for 500 spectators, which will provide decent shelter this winter. There is nothing of any substance behind the goals but a reasonable view is offered from these areas. However, should Harlow Town progress in line with their aspirations, there is scope for further development on a decent scale (Stevenage Borough is a good comparable example).

A young Tottenham Hotspur side played some slick football and I hope the crowd enjoyed the display from some possible stars of the future.

Marc Salmon has remained loyal to the club and is deserving of the tribute offered by this testimonial. I now look forward to the Phil Tuson/Graeme Auger testimonial! Seriously though, Phil and Graeme (and others) have also been incredibly loyal to the club and looking at the new place I guess they will be particularly proud to see how far the club have now come. They will have memories of some very difficult times not least 1992-93, when Harlow had to sit the season out when financial difficulty threatened the club's existence. (no need for AFC Harlow Town then - Ed)

The Sportcentre

Attendance: 935
Admission: £10
Programme: A rather hefty £3.50 (a bit naughty this considering the admission price - yes I know it was a testimonial but if you want to encourage people to return ..... Premiership programmes are usually £3 with one or two (Aston Villa for example) at £2.50)
Tea: 50p
Coffee: 60p





Down Memory Lane - Harlow Town's record attendance

This Harlow Town report has brought back memories of the historic FA Cup run of 1980. The record books show that for the Leicester City replay at The Sportcentre, the official attendance was 9,723. However, not wishing to spoil any of this, there are a handful of us who know different.

It was already a fine achievement for Harlow to have drawn at Filbert Street in the first match and I along with many others had gone for some pre-match refreshment at the nearest pub to the ground - The Willow Beauty. We had gone there straight from work and being young and foolish (as opposed to older and foolish) decided to guzzle the strongest beer available. This happened to be Abbot Ale !

During the match some of our party decided that it would be a good idea to have more beer. After a very short debate the consensus was that someone would have to return to the pub. One of our party foolishly volunteered and within seconds Tony Wade had been lifted over the fence. It was some time later that he reappeared complaining that he had been charged admission again. We were grateful for his efforts, it was his round which is probably why he volunteered and we duly thanked him. I understand that at sporting events in the United States, refreshments are delivered direct to the spectators in their seats. Ditto for us on the muddy Sportcentre slopes that evening.

What is the point of this rambling you ask ? Well surely the official attendance should actually be recorded as 9,722 - there was only one Tony Wade even if he did pay twice for that historic match !


Going but never to be forgotten - The Sportcentre, scene of the those magnificent FA Cup victories in 1980. Where were you when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon ? When John F Kennedy was assassinated ?? and when Tony Wade was (for a thirst quenching reason) hoisted out of the ground ???
------------------------------------------------------

The Leicester City view by Fox Fan

What a night that was, a long journey back home. I recall a few "incidents" with Spurs supporters before/during/after the game. I was only 16 at the time, years not stone, and all the memories of Leatherhead were flooding through my mind. We came back to beat them of course but it wasn't to be the same story against the mighty Harlow Town.

Some years later when I moved down to London and worked for Customs I met the mum of the lad who scored the only goal that night, she worked in Custom House. She delighted in telling me her story and was obviously very proud, bless her ! I don't think that Alan Smith was playing up front though, a bit too early for him. It was Jock Wallace's second season in charge and our forward line would likely have been Alan Young with the boy Lyneacre, as Mike Channon would later pronounce his surname, or possibly Martin Henderson. We won the second division title at Brisbane Road when I don't know how many thousands of fans travelled from the heart shaped county, and beyond, to East London. Larry May scored the only goal of the game to clinch a 1-0 win and the above mentioned Henderson left the pitch wearing a single boot and his support. Heady days.

Am still travelling to support my team with my boys who are now 12 & 8, it is a two and a half hour commute each way on a good day but if your team is really in your blood then you never lose that feeling.

Foxy

Waltham Forest FC

Waltham Forest 1 Cray Wanderers 2 - FA Trophy 2nd Qualifying Round

Isthmian League

The London Borough of Waltham Forest is located in north east London and forms part of Outer London. It is a mainly built-up residential area located between part of Epping Forest in the east and the River Lee in the west. These form two green corridors, passing into London from the surrounding countryside, and more than a fifth of the borough is made up of forestland, reservoirs, open space, parks and playing fields. Many Stone Age remains are found in the area. Roman remains have also been found scattered around the borough proving it was a significant area of Roman occupation. After the Romans, Poddy was born and has remained in the area to this day. The borough was formed in 1965, by the London Government Act 1963, from the area of the former Municipal Borough of Chingford, Municipal Borough of Leyton and Municipal Borough of Walthamstow which was transferred to Greater London from Essex. The borough was named Waltham Forest after the forest the area used to reside in, now known as Epping Forest. The Epping Forest Act of 1878 not only assisted in preserving the forest but also help develop the towns around it; Chingford, Walthamstow and Leyton. The boroughs location between the City of London and Epping Forest caused the large scale suburban development of much of the borough.

Was this a new ground for the Pieman ? Strictly speaking no, but I have not seen Waltham Forest play there. I visited Wadham Lodge to see Walthamstow Pennant in 1991 for a Spartan League fixture against Croydon Athletic, with Nigel Maitland. I recall on that occasion we were given a lift back to the tube station by Officer Crabtree (Kevin Wilmot of Potters Bar Town FC fame). The following text details the 'history' of the club and as Harry Hotspur had not been to this venue, we opted for this relatively local jaunt.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pennant Football Club was formed as a junior side in 1964, initially joining the South West Essex League. The league's Premier Division title was won by Pennant in 1972-73. 2 seasons later the club joined the Metropolitan League, winning the league at the first attempt.

Pennant joined the London Spartan League in 1983, becoming a senior club. They finished 4th in the Senior in their first season, which was sufficient to gain promotion to the Premier Division. In 1988 neighbours Walthamstow Avenue were swallowed up by Redbridge Forest, so Pennant changed their name to Walthamstow Pennant in order to keep the footballing name of Walthamstow alive. The 1988-89 season saw the renamed club win the Spartan League Cup and the installation of floodlights installed at Wadham Lodge.

In 1995-96 neighbours Leyton F.C. saw no future at their ground and moved to Wadham Lodge, incorporating Walthamstow Pennant. The club was renamed Leyton Pennant, and assumed Leyton's place in the Isthmian League. In 2003 the new chairman and his board changed the club's name to Waltham Forest, reflecting the club's location in the borough of Waltham Forest.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We travelled via Seven Sisters and the Victoria Line to Walthamstow central from where we caught a 34 bus to Brookscroft Road. Wadham Lodge is only a couple of minutes walk from here. The stadium is good for this level of football with covered terracing at each end and a decent seated stand along one side. The bar is above the dressing rooms which also serve an adjacent pitch outside the main arena.

A rather scrappy first half was livened up when visitors Cray Wanderers took the lead. The home side did eventually level midway through the second period but were stunned by a magnificent volley, which took Cray through to the next round, late on in the match.

Although Guy Fawkes celebrations are always prominent at this time of year, I have to report that this was not the cause of the thick black smoke behind the goals. This was caused by the cigar puffing Jonny Ketchup - a Cray Wanderers regular attendee. It was good to see him again and it was his new car that sped us back to the tube station after the match. Good luck to him and Cray Wanderers for the next round.

Attendance: 100

Admission: £6 (Hotspur Free)
Programme: £1.50 (obtained for you Andy, Stan and Glyn, the barman in Phil Butler's local, the Prince Albert in Ely)
Tea: 50p
Mars Bar: 40p
Fare: Covered by my All Zone Travel Card (Hotspur £1)