On Saturday evening, about 20 minutes before the world was due to end according to a well-publicised American preacher, I lifted my eyes up to the greying sky above the City of Manchester Stadium and asked the Man Upstairs for one last favour.

As Danny Kedwell, the AFC Wimbledon captain, lined up the final of his team’s five penalties – one that would, should he score, clinch a “return” to the Football League for a club at least moulded in the Dons’ image, I realised that I wanted this more than anything. More than world peace, more than a successful and contented professional life, more even than dinner with Jenifer Aniston and whatever might follow over coffee at her Hollywood mansion – and even if it did mean eternal damnation.

Kedwell did the job – as you knew the 25-goal striker just might – smashing the ball to the right of Mark Tyler, the Luton goalkeeper – and set off on a sprint of delight in front of the seating where the bulk of his team’s fans were massed. If the promised Rapture was not about to arrive for the world’s faithful, it had certainly arrived for the Wimbledon one.

It was a pinch-yourself moment. I turned to my friend Kev, and we hugged in disbelieving joy. Kev is a Derby County fan but had been at my side at Wembley in 1988 when the “original” Wimbledon had beaten extraordinary odds and a Double-chasing Liverpool team to add an FA Cup victory to their meteoric rise from non-League in 1977 to the top flight. He had also been present at Bottom Meadow, when AFC Wimbledon had played their first competitive game against Sandhurst Town in the lowest league of senior football.

He was, I had decided, my lucky mascot – and an honorary Womble – and provided calming company on the long drive up.

As we sung “It only took nine years”, an anthem of defiance aimed at the FA Commission’s scandalous decision to relocate the old Wimbledon to Milton Keynes, other fans unfurled a banner on the terrace behind the goal: “FA – FU” it read and perfectly reflected my sentiments.

It made worthwhile the early trips in 2002 and 2003 to Hartley Wintney’s massively sloping pitch in deepest Hampshire, where we bought basic merchandise from the back of a converted ambulance nicknamed the Wombulance, as well as that to Merstham, where we broke, in one afternoon, the world record for consumption of cheese rolls kindly provided by an hospitable host club.

And it totally vindicated the vision of the few who had turned up at St George’s Community Centre in the heart of Wimbledon two days after the FA Commission’s ruling to press the many – the rest of the fanbase – to embrace the idea of a new, reformed club. I’m partly ashamed now to admit that I was slow to adopt and adapt to the idea, arguing for greater effort to prevent the move, but was soon swept along in the tide of good, if angry, feeling.

Back in Manchester I wanted to feel sorry for Luton – for their fans have known suffering, if not of the same type – but in the cauldron of noise and excitement I really struggled to do so.

There was only room in football Heaven for a select few and it was those in the yellow and blue of Wimbledon that were the chosen ones.

The Hand Stadium – Clevedon Town. The Hand Stadium took its name from the Hand family, successive generations of which were involved in running the club for nearly 100 years. The facility includes an all weather pitch, training facilities, a 300-seater stand, tiered terracing around the whole ground and a clubhouse. The complex also includes function/conference facilities as well as Vibe, Clevedon’s only nightclub.

The Dovecote – Shepshed Dynamo FC. Not so much the ground name but its location in Butthole Lane is enough to give even the most conservative vicar a fit of the giggles. The ground has been home to Northern Premier League Division One South Shepshed for over 100 years.

The Dripping Pan – Lewes FC. Home of the Rooks, from Blue Square Bet South, The Dripping Pan is so named because the site was where monks from the local priory used to dry water from the nearby river to make salt. This also accounted for the pitch being sunk below ground level and being surrounded by grass banks on all sides. Still a wonderful place to watch a game with the chalky South Downs in the background.

The Eyrie – Bedford Town FC. Zamaretto Premier League team Bedford’s ground’s name is easy to explain. The club are nicknamed The Eagles, after some of the residents that used to frequent the countryside around the original ground. For all of you who didn’t study zoology at school (shame on you) then an Eyrie is another name for an Eagles nest. Simple really.

The Beveree – Hampton & Richmond Borough FC. The ground is known as Beveree and it lies adjacent to Beaver Close, which would seem to suggest as to where the tag originates. Furthermore, an ancient stream (which currently flows underneath the pitch) heads towards the river Thames some 200 yards away, which may indicate that the area could have been the habitat of the animal before it became extinct in the UK hundreds of years ago. Still amusing though and recently included in The Inbetweeners 50 rude place names in England.

The Snake Pit – Atherstone Town FC. Despite some extensive research into this one, I cannot see one logical reason why Zamaretto League Southern Division Atherstone’s ground is called the Snake Pit. They are nicknamed “The Adders” but it is unclear as to what came first – the nickname or the ground. Either way, looking at some of the forums from visiting teams there is enough bite in the home fans to make travelling supporters very wary.

The Butchers Arms – Droylsden FC. The ground is named after the Butcher’s Arms public house, whose landlord in 1892 instigated the formation of Droylsden FC to play on land behind the pub, which became the ground. Now playing in the Blue Square Bet North division the club celebrate the Butchers name at a designated home game once a year, when the stadium floor is sprinkled with saw dust and fans are invited to wear white overalls and hairnets however due to new health and safety regulations the smearing of pigs blood on each others faces has been outlawed.

Victoria Pleasure Gardens – Goole AFC. A strange one this as you would expect it to be located by the sea side. But Goole is actually 45 miles inland, located in the West Ridings of Yorkshire. As a travelling Lincoln fan who visited it recently for a pre-season friendly commented, “I can see its Victorian from the age of the facilities, but pleasurable it certainly ain’t”.

Giant Axe – Lancaster City FC. Located close to Lancaster railway station, The Giant Axe has been Northern Premier League Lancaster City’s home ground since 1905. It was given its name as it was the centrepiece of a sports club, the exterior wall of which was, when viewed from above, the same shape as an axe head.

The Scholars – Chasetown FC. Chasetown have come to the nations attention due to their FA Cup exploits in the past few years. They can also boast once funny comedian Frank Carson as one of their directors. The club currently plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division and is nicknamed The Scholars, having been formed by affiliates of nearby Chase Terrace High School in the Chase Terrace area of Burntwood.

I am sure we have missed a few, so please if you know of any more interestingly named grounds then let us know.

7. Make Non League Day a firm fixture in the calendar
James Doe deserves a medal for making the first ever Non League Day last September. Not only did he have the energy to say “right let’s do it” but he was also able to get national media attention to the day. In short Non League day – what a brilliant idea! My Non League team of choice Lewes FC hosted Hampton & Richmond Borough on a glorious sunny day and saw 694 fans flock into The Dripping Pan, up more than a hundred on games in previous weeks. We also saw the likes of Jonathan Pearce, Mark Williams (From Fast Show and Harry Potter fame) and Dave Lamb (The voice of Come Dine with Me) come along to support their local club.

For those of you who have no idea what Non League Day is or was then shame on you! It was a chance for all of those plastic Premier League and Football League (well, the higher placed clubs) to remember that there is more to life than a sanitised stadium, overpriced and undercooked food and players faking injuries. It was a celebration of our Non League game and an opportunity for everyone to enjoy a game at the grass roots level of the game.

So what does it take to become a regular fixture on the calendar? Three things really.

First. Make sure that the FA recognises the day and therefore stipulates that home internationals are not played at 3pm on a Saturday (or preferably on a Saturday at all). This day happened because the home game versus Bulgaria was played on the Friday night meaning no Premier League, nPower Championship and around half of the League One and Two games were played on the Saturday. Take the game last weekend against Wales – couldn’t that have been played Friday night? They play rugby union internationals in Cardiff on a Friday night without any issue? Or Sunday?

Secondly. It takes a willingness of the clubs involved to adopt it as a special day. Clubs need to do more to attract fans for this. Many did last time out – Some offered 50% discount on admission, others put on special events. But all clubs need to adopt the day and do something, otherwise it will be just like any other home game.

Thirdly. Whilst I do not particularly advocate sponsorship for the sake of it, I actually think this would benefit from some sponsorship. Why not make it like a “Red Nose Day” for clubs – do fundraising events, give some cash to grass roots football charities. And get a national sponsor of the day who can use their marketing resources to really get the message across.

I would also suggest that it is held twice a season, planned so that ALL Non League clubs could benefit from hosting a game each season. So in September it is Lewes versus Hampton & Richmond Borough, and then in March or April it could be the reverse fixture. And let’s recognise the contribution of possibly the greatest man in Non League football, Tony Kempster (idea thanks to Danny Last) by naming the day after him….and getting at least a CBE for James Doe for his services to football.

8. Alleviate the financial catch 22 of promotion
This idea comes from Charlie Dobres, one of the directors of Lewes FC. The cost of being promoted up the non-leagues can be crippling, each promotion seeming to cost almost exponentially more due to increased player wages, ground grading requirements, longer travelling distances and more. The step-up to Blue Square Bet Premier in particular, where almost all teams are now full-time, is a killer for small clubs. Increased crowds and sponsorship do not cover these promotions, so the inverse economics of non-league football is such that, the higher you go, the bigger the losses. Every time aspires to play at a higher level, but at what cost? You can see the division in class both on and off the pitch between a Hayes & Yeading or a Histon, and a Luton Town or a York City.

Occasionally you are surprised by teams who seem to come from nowhere. Fleetwood Town this season are making a real challenge to the top six but are being bankrolled. Crawley Town? Do not get me started on that whole situation? AFC Wimbledon, a club built on solid community foundations.

So I would propose an ‘Escalator payment’ for promoted clubs. Funded by the Premier League/FA it would make a grant to promoted clubs sufficient to cover one season’s additional costs in the league above. This would give clubs more time to adjust to the step up and act as a safety net. At the moment, some clubs’ biggest fear is, ironically, the ‘threat’ of promotion. You can look at it as the other side of the coin to the parachute payments that a Premier League club gets on being relegated.

We all know that most clubs are held together financially by wealthy(ish) benefactors. That’s their choice, but the downside is an innate long-term instability in the club i.e. what happens when that person(s) goes away? So I propose a cap on the proportion of club income that can come from donations. Perhaps starting as high as 50% in year one, but ending up in year three (to create a soft landing) as no more than 20%. This would encourage and give clubs time to both replace this sugar-daddy money with genuine recurring, earnt in both gate receipts and commercial activities.

9. Scrap the ground grading farce
Following on from the financial catch 22 we have ground grading. Take a look at the picture on the right? Idyllic setting isn’t it? This is the home of VCD, last season of the Ryman League North. 2009/10 was the first season at this level and they more than held their own. Crowds were as you expect modest, in keeping with a regionalised league were attendances do not often break the three figure barrier. They were accepted for promotion from the Kent Premier League to the Ryman in May 2009. A year later after they finished in a respectable 8th place. But then they were told that their Oakwood Road ground was not up to standard and they were relegated back to the Kent Premier League.

So a year after their ground was good enough to host crowds of 100 people they were told it wasn’t fit for the job despite them spending not insignificant sums of improvements. As you can see from above – idyllic. Two small stands, perimeter fencing, floodlights – all ticks in the boxes. The issue was a 1metre wide path around the pitch. It appears that this should have been a metre wide. The club were given until mid June to sort this and they were on track to complete this work when all of a sudden in May the Isthmian League said “sorry but you have been relegated”. You can read more here.

I have no issue with certain criteria needing to be met before clubs can play at a higher level, but the whole March deadline means more than often clubs have to gamble on paying for work on the slim chance they may be promoted. Suppose that your team sits in 10th place in early January, five spots off the play offs but quite a few points away. If you put a run together you could make 5th spot and thus get to the playoffs BUT there is a slim chance you may go up. Only problem is you need to carry out a number of upgrades to the ground at a cost of several thousand pounds. You only have a small window to carry out this work so you go ahead. Two weeks later your team suffers three serious injuries. Then the bad weather starts and your next few home games are cancelled. Sound familiar from the previous few seasons? So extra money is needed just to get a team out yet there is no money coming through the turnstiles. That is the issue. Clubs have to gamble far too early in the season. Why not make the deadline say in May or even later?

What is the difference between playing in front of 75 in Step 5, 100 in Step 4 and 250 in Step 3? Or is this simply rules for the sake of rules?

So there we have it. Nine sensible, logical and workable ideas. But we all know that those three bedfellows do not resonate with the powers that be. I will be sending the whole list to the FA and the respective Non League administrators for their comment, but I doubt I will get a response. But before that I want a number ten. After all a list is not really complete unless it is a top 10 so I want YOUR ideas for the tenth item. We have a few such as change the playoff system so that it involves a team from the league above, change the regionalisation of the leagues and scrap the rule that says all teams over a certain level have to produce a match day programme.

So in the words of Deliah, “Let’s be ‘aving you”

4. All clubs to offer free entry to under 16′s.
Let’s face it, children should not have to pay to watch football. In fact how many actually watch the whole game anyway? Earlier in March I took both of my young children to Chelmsford City. They were charged £3.50 each. £7 for two under ten’s who were then going to spend about the same on snacks, sweets and drinks. They saw no value in the £7. How is charging that amount encouraging parents to bring their children to the games.

Families are being priced out of the professional game. Even in League Two, a child of 7 years old can be charged at up to £10. In the Blue Square Bet Premier some clubs charge up to £7 for juniors which again is far too high.

My reasoning? The pocket money test. Apparently the average weekly pocket money for a ten year old in England is £4.92, well according to the Daily Mail so it’s not 100% correct. In the Fuller household it is £2.50, rising to £3.50 for chores. So according to Crawley Town, if a ten year old wanted to go to a game they will have to pay twice the weekly “salary” of my ten year old. To put that in an adult context, if they charged the same twice the weekly wage to get in then a ticket to watch a Blue Square Bet Premier league game would cost over £1,600!

At the start of this season I did some research on behalf of Lewes FC on ticket prices. The cheapest basic entry in the league was £9, the most expensive £11.50 (Chelmsford City again). But only two clubs offered free entry for the under 16′s – Lewes and Farnborough. Since then a number of clubs have brought in the scheme realising the value it has as a marketing tool.

As Peter Kay said, children are the future so clubs should be doing everything they can to get them in young AND engage with them. It costs the clubs zero, not a bean, zilch, nothing to accommodate a child standing on the terrace, so why charge them at all? You know full well that they will harrang their parent(s) for money to spend when inside so let them in free.

Benefit for the clubs – it boosts their attendance figures, kids will want to come back if you engage with them and they MAY just realise there are more bragging rights at school about being an actual attending Dartford/Boston/Hyde fan than an armchair Spurs/Liverpool/Portsmouth one.

No brainer really, but we all know that some clubs keep their brains in their wallets.

5. Allow fans to be able to drink beer on the terraces whilst watching the game.
On the day that Lewes FC were relegated from the Blue Square Premier in March 2009 a number of fans actually rejoiced as the demotion back to the regional league meant that they could once again enjoy a fine pint of Harveys beer on the terrace. One of the joys of the non league game is being able to have a beer and enjoy the game in front of you.

Not all clubs are allowed, or even allow fans to drink outside of their club houses for a number of reasons. It may be down to specific licencing regulations, it may be down to covenants on the ground or it may simply be because they do not trust their fans to behave. I would hope it is not the latter, but there does seem to be some huge inconsistencies on the regulations regarding alcohol and watching non league football. So let’s make it simple. Allow beer to be drunk on the terraces at all games.

I simply do not see what the issue is? We covered this recently on TBIR here so have a read of that as well.

Bar staff can still refuse to serve fans who appear to be already under the influence, the club boosts its revenues as instead of a mad rush in the fifteen minutes of half time trade will be more spread out and their premises becomes more appealing to breweries for promotions.

We’ve seen a number of large travelling groups of support down at The Dripping Pan this season. Dartford came in their hundreds, drank lots, sang lots and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Ditto Chelmsford City and Woking. One of the reasons was that Lewes is seen as a “good day out” in their calendar – and one reason is the fact you can have a beer whilst you watch the game. Ditto The Beveree, home of Hampton & Richmond Borough.

Let’s assume that you have a crowd of 500. Of those, 250 are having a beer. A sensible (chortle) man may have a beer every thirty minutes, so they may have 3 during the game. A beer costs £3.50, of which the club makes £1. So allowing alcohol on the terraces is worth in this case 250 x 3 x £1 = £750, times 24 games (league plus a couple of cups) = £18,000 profit for the club. If it is not allowed then this number will be reduced dramatically.

I am not going to get into this whole cricket/rugby debate as to why they can drink whilst a game is going on and at football you cannot. Test matches go on for 7/8 hours but alcohol is served for the whole period (bar a one hour “cooling off period” after lunch) without any issue at all. 23,500 pissed up people at an Ashes test at the Oval or 100 watching Worthing versus Ramsgate? Which one poses the biggest issue? Well apparently the latter as alcohol would not be allowed to be served for such a game at the A2B Arena.

One final point…The FA Trophy and Vase. The cup competition for steps 1 to 7 in the Non League pyramid. Step 1 (Blue Square Bet Premier) clubs do not allow fans to drink in sight of the pitch….yet the competition is sponsored by….Carlsberg. Insert your own “if Carlsberg did” tag lines there.

6. Play the FA Trophy and FA Vase at Wembley on the same day.
Last May Wembley Stadium hosted seven “cup finals” plus an England International. The level of criticism that was aimed at the FA for playing so much football on a poor pitch was understandable, but they claimed they could do nothing about it. Well, with the UEFA cash cow rolling into town this year it is amazing to see that they have bent over backwards to ensure the pitch is used sparingly prior to the showpeice event.

Two particular events do not need separate dates in the calendar. The FA Trophy and Vase competitions are worthwhile for the clubs who play in them, but do they really need to be played at Wembley on different days? Look at the attendances for each in the past three seasons:-

FA Trophy
2010 – Barrow 2 Stevenage Borough 1 – 21,223
2009 – Stevenage Borough 2 York City 0 – 27,102
2008 – Ebbsfleet United 1 Torquay United 0 – 40,186

FA Vase
2010 – Whitley Bay 6 Wroxham 1 – 8,920
2009 – Whitley Bay 2 Glossup North End 0 – 12,212
2008 – Kirkham & Wesham 2 Lowestoft Town 1 – 18,000

So in a good year the combined attendance is less than 60,000 or two thirds of the stadium. Last season it was half of that. How difficult would it be to play both games on the same day? Make it a real Non league day out – a celebration of the grass roots. Wembley can easily cope. The stadium can be segregated in a number of ways, the changing rooms are big enough to cope with two NFL teams plus their huge entourages so four football teams will not be an issue, and then the ground staff have an extra day in the calendar to repair the pitch.

In fact the FA could actively encourage neutral fans to the finals day. Last season ticket prices for the FA Trophy ranged from £25 to £45. Eventual winners Barrow AFC charge visitors to their fantastic Holker Street ground £13.and For the FA Vase they were £25 for Adults and £12.50 for concessions. Again, call me old fashioned, but why should Kings Lynn (semi finalists this year)or Barrow fans be expected to pay almost 4 x as much for a final ticket as they would for a semi final one at their ground? But if you make it a double header then there is value in the combined ticket – £30 for two games at Wembley Stadium.

And whilst we are at it, why not give every club in steps 1 to 7 (aka all the teams that could make it to either final) some free tickets to give away for the finals day? This season a total of 815 teams entered the combined competitions. If we assume that a maximum of 60,000 tickets are allocated to the four finalists, and that 10,000 tickets are used for segregation and the corporate bunnies, that leaves 20,000 that could be distributed. Give each club 20 tickets to be distributed or used as competition prizes. Fill up the stadium, make it a real Non league day out. 9,000 people who have paid £25, sitting in a stadium for 90,000 is not a good day out irrespective of the result.

The third and final part will be published next week.

The game against Ebbsfleet was duly re-arranged for mid February and 99% of clubs would just have republished the programme with a photocopied insert and be done with it. But this is Lewes we are talking about so we like to be different. And so the directors decided that Christmas would not be cancelled and simply shifted it by nearly two months. All were welcome, Santa hats certainly obligatory. The club even went as far as making a promotional video to encourage people to attend. My only concern was whether the mince pies may have fermented since being kept from Boxing Day?

This was to be my seventh game in just ten days. Was I bored with football yet? Not a chance and as I battled my way through the rush hour gridlock on the M25 I thought that this game could be a defining moment in the Rooks season. A win tonight and it was possible to leapfrog over a number of teams and into safety. But as we know, “if” and “and” make odd bedfellows (like Eddie Murphy and Scary Spice I always feel).

Lewes 0 Ebbsfleet United 3 – The Dripping Pan – Wednesday 23rd February 2011
Baaah Humbug. Ebbsfleet became the Grinch that stole Christmas, taking all three points in a game played with swirling mist all around the Christmas decorations. Three nil flattered them but they took their chances, whilst Lewes didn’t build on the possession they had, especially in the second half.

Lewes faced a bit of an onslaught in the first half and the long ball game employed by Ebbsfleet meant that the Lewes defence had little respite although David Wheeler was a constant thorn in the side of Ebbsfleet’s keeper. However, despite Lewes’s strong backbone, and attacking flair with Noel and Taylor it was Ebbsfleet who took the lead in route one fashion. A long punt upfield by keeper and Ashley Carew squeezed between Chris Breach and Sonny Cobbs to slot an angled shot past Chris Winterton.

It was strange that Lewes attacked the Jungle in the second half, as in all my times of watching them this had never happened. The crowd on the terrace was swelled with at least one Santa Claus (because kids there is only one, right) and in truth Lewes took the game to the visitors with Ebbsfleet riding their luck during a couple of goal mouth scrambles. ToSH wanted at least a point so took off Anthony Barness and introduced a more attacking formation. It had two effects. Lewes peppered the Ebbsfleet goal mouth but simply could not find a way through, whilst they looked more exposed to the counter attack.

And it was this shortage of numbers that led to two late goals by Ebbsfleet as first Calum Willock took advantage of another route one approach with a fantastic finish and then as the game entered injury time Carew scored again to send Ebbsfleet into 2nd place in the table and to leave the Rooks clearing up the wrapping paper and putting Granny’s jumper back in the draw.

A set back to the fight that is all, no more, no less. Bring on Woking on Saturday is what I say!

More photos from the evening can be found at our Flickr stream here.

And who needs a convertible to cruise Route 66 when you can have a 6 year old Zafira with crappy air conditioning cruising up the A1? It was of course Half Term and thus that means time with the family and football. The two go hand in hand right? Well, they do in the TBIR book and so we were heading up north to spend time with the extended CMF family, meaning some jolly japes with Northern Steve. And he had lined up quite a feast of football fun for us. A Evostik Premier League double header with Glapwell versus Stamford followed by a trip to see Gainsborough Trinity versus Gloucester City with the Blue Square Bet North game sandwiched in the middle between local Manchester rivals Hyde United and Stalybridge Celtic? Jealous yet? Well how about if I tell you they would be book-ended by Cambridge United versus Kidderminster Harriers and Lewes versus Ebbsfleet United. An 800 mile road trip encompassing five games in five counties. Green with envy now?

Non League football is important to me, and it should be to you dear readers too. Because if Non League football dies, then eventually so will the game at the highest level. I love nothing better these days than heading off for some new grass roots destination and feeling the history ooze through the pores of a ground with real history. Attendances in all levels of football are falling on the whole. Premier League, Championship, Football League and Non League. Some fans are being priced out, but in general we are now reaping the reward of the lost generation of fans, the teenagers and young adults who were priced out of attending games in the past decade. And the situation is just going to get worse. Unless clubs start to encourage Dads and Sons back onto the terraces/shiny plastic seats those seats will sit empty in ten years time.

Non League clubs are doing their bit to grab this space. Many clubs at the Blue Square Bet level offer free admission for children, others charge a nominal pound or two. So I was going to do my own research as to how five different clubs were approaching the situation, starting with a Friday night visit to The Abbey Stadium to watch Cambridge United host Kidderminster Harriers in the Blue Square Bet Premier league.

A few weeks before the game there was some doubt if there was actually be a game on at all. Despite a decade ago this game being a Football League clash, Kidderminster had come into the game in a whole world of financial trouble. On Sunday 6th February The Non League Paper had led with the headline of a potential move into administration for the club, the result of trying to chase the dream back of the Football League.

Cambridge United themselves were hardly out of the financial woods. They too had invested in trying to get back in the league, and went into the Play Off Final in 2009 against Torquay United as favourites, only to see the Seagulls win 2-0 on the day. Manager Gary Brabin was announced as the Conference manager of the season and was then promptly sacked by the board for not getting them back into the lead. Nothing like a dose of realism from the men in charge.

He was replaced by ex-Leyton Orient manager Martin Ling, who lasted just 8 days, resigning over “irrecoverable differences of opinion with owner George Rolls”. Rolls then left and a new board was appointed and guess who they chose as new manager? Martin Ling.

Cambridge finished Ling’s first season in 10th place. This season, with the club sitting again in 10th place in early January the club’s owners put the club up for sale citing the need for new funds to take the club forward. Despite interest being expressed from a number of parties, no new owner has yet been found. The club’s landlords Grosvenor Group revealed the plans for a new community stadium, including potential new locations both within the city and outside it. As if this wasn’t enough for the long suffering fans, Martin Ling left the club and has been replaced for the time being by Jez George. Who needs stability in football eh?

Our last trip to The Abbey Stadium had been in September 2009 in an eventful game for more than one reason. On that sunny day we had seen the home team take a 3-0 first half lead against ten-men Luton Town, only to end up losing 4-3 in a game that ended with riot police on the pitch. On that day we had been guests of Luton Town manager Mick Harford and after the game we sat down with him and discussed his tactical genius and what he said in the dressing room at half time. Harford was a hero to the Luton faithful and so hundreds, if not thousands of fans were amazed that just four days later he was sacked by the club as they sat in 5th place after just a handful of games into their first game since relegation from the Football League. And where did they finish eight months later? In 5th place of course. Football madness at its best.

Cambridge United 1 Kidderminster Harriers 2 – The Abbey Stadium – Friday 18th February 2011
I simply cannot get my head around some of these ground names. Earlier today I read an excellent blog post on European Football Weekends about the Hamburg derby, which was being played at the Intech Arena. Where? Well apparently HSV’s Volksparkstadion had been renamed AGAIN this summer. AOL Arena, HSH Nordbank, Colorline, Mighty Mouse Arena – it’s all the same to me. So forgive me Cambridge fans for not saying I visited the R Costings Stadium for this game. It is the Abbey, and will always be the Abbey. Rant over.

There was a time not long ago when Cambridge United won an award for the best League ground to visit(a scoring matrix from a book written by Jon Ladd) primarily due to their bacon rolls. Unfortunately the bacon was not as I always remembered it and so I headed for a drink instead. After a quick beer in the Green King portable pub in the car park (a portakabin done out with a bar inside) I headed Stand behind the south end goal at The Abbey and you can feel the history seeping its way from the old Main Stand or the covered terrace, in a time when John Beck played it long, and Dion Dublin well was simply long. On a cold February night with the TV cameras from Premier Sports in attendance the locals had come out to support their team.

Ah Premier Sports. Now that is a strange deal. Picking up the pieces from the collapse of Setanta, Premier Sports are showing 30 games this season on a pay per view model. So far they have not released any subscription figures but I would not imagine many nationwide fans would have paid their £6.99 for this one. So it is unclear who is the winner in this deal.

The game started with a flurry of open play with both teams on the front foot. Both keepers were called into action during the opening twenty minutes and a goal looked imminent, ruining my 8/1 on a goalless draw.

Almost on the stroke of half time Kidderminster opened the scoring, perhaps against the run of play. A long cross from the right was missed by the Cambridge defence and found its way to Sean Canham who drilled the ball home. Just two minutes later Cambridge were almost level when a free kick from the edge of the box was headed off the line by a Kidderminster defender.

The main talking point in the half was the five yellow cards shown by the referee. Was there a bad tackle anywhere? No, but he fell into the trap of booking one player so early on that any similar tackle had to result in a booking. Shame really as it spoilt an attacking half.

Oh, I forgot to mention that one the way I heard a cringeworthy advert on the radio on the way up. “A right old cockney knees up” can be had by all on Monday night at Upton Park for the game versus Burnley. For ONLY £49 you get a pie and mash supper, a pint, a programme, a padded seat and “much much more”…well based on the fact a ticket is £15, a programme £3.50, a pint the same and pie and mash is lets say a £5 it must be more than £23 worth of “much more”. Desperate measures from an increasingly desperate club. Back to the Blue Square Bet Premier…

How’s your luck! Five minutes in, Cambridge break and Kidderminster full back Vaughan who has already been booked hacks down the Cambridge forward. The referee calls him over, and it appears he is going to get a second yellow. Harriers captain Briggs protests, the referee sees the linesman’s flag up for offside and so cannot book Vaughan for the tackle but books Briggs instead for his protest!

The game ebbed and flowed after that. Both team had chances and with the last throw of the dice Cambridge used up their substitutes. With the first minute of injury time played Adam Marriott looked to have rescued a point for the home side as he scored from a free kick some 25 yards out. But when the luck isn’t with you, it really isn’t with you and two minutes later Kidderminster’s substitute Jamille Matt headed home the winner from Matty Blair’s excellent cross.

The defeat meant that Cambridge had now gone eight games without a win and slid further down the table, whilst three points game the Harriers a vital boost upwards towards the playoffs.

The roadtrip was well underway…next stop Glapwell, or so we thought!

More pictures from the evening can be found at our Flickr stream here.

Do they really deserve a kicking?

These guys and girls are real unsung heroes. As we will hear first hand below they have to put their (character) lives on the line every time they step out onto the pitch. But first let me humour you with two mascot related stories.

First let me take you back to the late 1990′s. West Ham travelled through the Blackwall Tunnel to take on neighbours Charlton Athletic on a foul day of wind and rain. West Ham, with Julian Dicks ripped apart by a rampant Danny Mills lost 4-2 but it was the half time entertainment that was most memorable. Charlton have two mascots – Harvey the Dog and Floyd the Cat. Both are “manned” by two young youth team players. However, their half time special guest was Heavyweight Champion of the World Lennox Lewis….all 6ft 5inches. The club therefore thought having two 5ft mascots either side of him would look a bit “silly” so (in)Active Matt with his 6ft frame stepped in in exchange for three Pukka Pies.

One of these is an England world cup winner...the other is Dallaglio

But apart from a five minute “test”, I have never worn a costume but just from that short period I cannot begin to understand the heat and stuffiness of wearing the uniform. Just imagine if you were dressed as a 6 foot giant Womble or a huge Lion? Well let’s find out what it is really like…Over to Dean Parsons aka Haydon the Womble from AFC Wimbledon, and Nicki aka Leo the Lion from FC Copenhagen.

How long have you been Haydon the Womble and Leo the Lion?
H: Since August 26th 2006 when I (Haydon) was born (launched)
L: Since the start of the 2007/08 season.

Did you volunteer or were you asked?
H: I volunteered
L: I knew someone at FCK and they sort of asked and I sort of volunteered.

What was the interview process like?
H: The Womble Underground Press fanzine, who raised the money held a mascot idol audition, where I was chosen.
L: There wasn’t one at FCK – I was simply chosen.

What advice would you give any readers who aspire to be a mascot?
H: Just put your own personality to the mascot, do not try too hard, just be cheeky, and get away with things you wouldn’t normally get away with.
L: Simply jump into it and don’t be nervous.

Most embarrassing moment?
H: Well I have a wooden nose and before I knew the length of my own nose I used to bash people with it! But it would have to be having my head ripped off by a Luton fan, and upsetting the children, taking away a part of their innocence, in their belief Wombles are real, which of course they are!
L: My first time was nerve racking as I kept thinking I was going to fall flat on my face, especially walking down the steps in the stands.

Do you study other mascots for new moves or techniques?
H: Of course like a goalkeeper watches over goalies, a striker watches other strikers, mascots are always watching to see what they can add to their locker.
L: No – I have my own style – people copy me!

How important is the role of the mascot on a matchday?
H: It is very important for encouraging families to come along & carry on bringing generations of fans to continue getting behind the team. I also feel their are vital times during a game especially when losing to lift the crowd which in turn lifts the players.
L: I think it is important for the club to have an identity for the children.

How do you cope with trying to do autographs with your big hands?
H: I practised to start with oven gloves, now I seem to have to down to a fine art but if the sun is shining in that direction, I have to literally write blindly.
L: as I only have to write “LEO” it is not to difficult.

Ever been “tapped up” by another club?
H: No not yet, most mascots at each club never seem to want to give up their role, I have helped the children’s Trust in Tadworth though with their mascots.
L: Not yet but lots of other clubs fans yell at me – especially when we play Brondby!

Any rivalry between mascots?
H: There is friendly rivalry between other teams mascots at mascot races etc, the only serious rivalry is with the cows from Milton Keynes, they tries to cuddle me but I just stuck say no to Franchising stickers on their backs!
L: Not that I have ever heard but everyone knows FCK’s Lion is the best!

Is the ultimate aim to win the Mascot grand national?
H: Sadly Wombles aren’t renowned for their aerodynamics and whilst Huntingdon allow ringers in like the Rugby winger last year wearing tights and running trainers, the genuine football mascot doesn’t stand a chance. I finished 2nd at the London athletics at Crystal Palace athletics track, and third at Plumpton I think that’s the closest I will get. But I beat almost 5,000 finishers at the London marathon dressed as Haydon!

Is this something you can pass down to your kids to do one day?
H: I have one daughter with another on the way so more than likely my daughter is very much part of the mascot scene, often seen holding a charity bucket events to raise money for charity. The Southend mascots are a fine example their dad was the mascot until cancer sadly got the better of him and they have now taken on the role, they are doing him proud.
L: It is a great experience being out on the pitch in front of the crowd so I would say yes.

So there we have it – two more unsung heroes for our gallery. And next time, when I mascot waves at you, don’t be rude – wave back and remember that they are doing it for the love of the club – just like you and me.

Football to us involves sampling a few beers with the locals, wandering around the ground chatting to the fans and more often than not having a drink after the game with the players and managers. That is what watching non league football is all about. You are more than just a number on the gate. But are all non league experiences the same? Of course not. Anyone who has sampled a game at the Gateshead International Stadium will be hard pressed to put a romantic spin on the magic of a day out there, but there are literally dozens of teams and venues that make a memorable away day. We have tried to choose five that we would recommend to anyone.

A word of explanation first. The five we have chosen below have been through our personal experience and those of the fans we have spoken to. Obviously there are hundreds of clubs out there who could have been included, and I am sure if we review this list in a year or two it will feature a different list of clubs. But for now, our top 5 away days in Non League football are:-

Lewes FC – Blue Square Bet South
Located around a dozen miles east of Brighton, Lewes has son much going for it as a town that the football used to be incidental. That was until this year when a group of like-minded individuals moved the club from private ownership into a community club. With this move the club has vowed to bring a new era of fan involvement and a few new initiatives, for example offering free entry to children under the age of 16 as well as an Adult season ticket to sit or stand anywhere in the ground for £150.

The town is famous for its annual bonfires, its castle, Anne of Cleves house and more importantly, Harvey’s brewery. And where there is a brewery you can be guaranteed a decent number of pubs. And that is exactly what Lewes has to offer. Pubs, pubs and more pubs. And when you have finished in the town centre and wandered down the incredibly steep hill to the brilliantly named Dripping Pan you can have another beer in the Rook Inn, currently a work in progress on a European Fan bar.

To really make their day, and to potentially gain a free pint of Harvey’s, bring a scarf of your team along to put up in the bar. And the joy doesn’t end there. You can take your beer out onto the terrace and enjoy what football used to be like back in the 1970′s, but without the flares, the fists and the fuzz. The ground, supposedly named after the fact that the local Monks used to pan the lake that existed here for minerals was also used for mock sea battles. It sits in the shadow of the chalky South Downs and has a number of unique features. What about a steep grass bank that runs the length of the pitch where views are superb, or the “jungle” – the terrace behind the goal where the vocal home fans view the game from? The team have struggled in recent years, although the steady stream of youth team players brought through by Lewes’s Man of the Year Steve “Ibbo” Ibbitson have on times pulled out some fantastic performances. For more lovely details of what watching Non League football is all about read here and there.

Forest Green Rovers FC – Blue Square Bet Premier
Hands up who really knows where Forest Green is? A couple of you I see. Get a magnifying glass and focus on an area of Gloucestershire above Bath but below Stroud and you will see it just off the A46 – well you will see the village of Nailsworth where you need to take a right (if you are coming from the north) at the roundabout and start climbing the hill, and climbing and climbing until you finally reach Forest Green and the New Lawn. Obviously, by then you will have had a few beers in the village in the fantastic Weighbridge, The Egypt Mill or the Village Inn and think you are Chris Bonnington so the long walk will seem like a walk on a mill pond.

Once you are at the ground you will be welcomed with open arms in the supporters bar by the locals and you may even get a glimpse of ex-England wicket keeper Jack Russell who is a season ticket holder at the club. So the game itself may be crap, but looking out from the impressive main stand all you can see is trees and fields, as if football is an imposter in the middle of rural England. For a more detailed view click here and there.

Buxton FC – Northern Premier League Premier Division
A visit to Buxton FC ticks all of my football watching boxes. Their charismatic Silverlands ground is the highest in the pyramid of football, situated over 1000 feet above sea level. And, it has the lesser seen slopping pitch.

Buxton is situated in the Peak District so you can make a weekend of it, and please your wife at the same time. Visiting with the lads only? Then it boats a total of 23 (twenty-three) pubs. Get yourself up to “The Triangle” nearby the stadium for the best of those pubs; Cheshire Cheese, King’s Head and The Swan.

You can be assured of the warmest of warm welcomes once you enter the Silverlands as well. Upon my first visit there, former player ‘Bammer’ took me under his wing, and showed me around the place conducting a potted history as we strolled around the ground, and eventually into the clubhouse for an agreeable pint.

If you’re looking for a particular match to attend, then hold your nerve. The Bucks biggest game of 2010/11 falls on the very last Saturday of the season. Buxton v Matlock Town is a local derby that’ll have fans flocking to Silverlands. Do yourself a big favour, and get yourself along there. You won’t be disappointed. Don’t just take our word for it, have a read here.

Hampton & Richmond Borough FC – Blue Square Bet South
There are so many reasons why every football fan should make an annual pilgrimage to south west London to visit the Beveree. First up it is easy to get to. A five minute walk from Hampton station, and within 25 minutes of the centre of London helps for those coming by public transport. Coming by car? No problems, the M3 and M25 are within ten minutes and parking is plentiful and free around the ground. Fancy a beer then look no further than the The Worlds End, The Railway Bell or the Jolly Coopers all within a few minutes of the ground. Of course you can go into the supporters bar at the ground and mingle with the hospitable home fans or after where for the price of a lemonade you can hear some classic storied told by Hampton manager and ex-West Ham legend Alan Devonshire. Pick your game and you may also land in the middle of a fancy dress day.

The ground itself is another surrounded by trees and has real character. Behind the goal you will find the new Alan Simpson stand, named after the club’s President who wrote Steptoe and Son as well as Hancock’s Half Hour who still attends all games, health permitting. The Beveree is another ground where having a beer on the terraces is actively encouraged and they even have a tuck shop for the kids to spend their money in. For a view on a typical matchday at The Beveree have a look here and there.

Whitley Bay FC – Northern League Division One
The coastal town of Whitley Bay is simple to find. If you’re travelling by train, you’ll need to alight at Newcastle and then catch a Metro to Whitley Bay station. If you’re driving from the south, follow the signs to Newcastle from the A1 and then just after you’ve crossed the Tyne Bridge, follow the exit signs towards Tynemouth and the coast (A1058) and then you’ll pick up signposts for Whitley Bay.

Hillheads Park is located just outside of the town centre, on Hillheads Road, behind Whitley Bay ice-rink and just up the road from the Morrisons supermarket. The two closest pubs are The Seahorse (located at the ground and also accessible once you’ve paid your way in for a match) and The Last Orders, which is located between Morrisons and the ground. If you fancy a pre-match pint in the town centre (a 10 minute walk from Hillheads Park) then you’ll find plenty of fans in The Rockcliffe Arms, a real ale pub on Algernon Place, just around the corner from the Metro station.

The match-day atmosphere is fantastic for football at this level, mainly due to a group of fans calling themselves the Bell-end Choir (stop sniggering at the back – it’s because they stand behind the goal, ring a bell and sing for 90 minutes) who drive the atmosphere, regardless of the match being a Northern League fixture or a big FA Vase game (which will see crowds of up to 3,000 rocking the place).

If you don’t fancy standing behind the goal on the uncovered terracing, then head for the covered, old-style main stand which has seating at the back and standing at the front. A new stand is being planned opposite this which will provide covered terracing. At the back of the main stand is the refreshments bar, while to one side, in the corner of the ground, is a burger van. The entrance to The Seahorse pub is as you come through the turnstiles, set just back from the pitch.

After the match you’re spoilt for choice on where to go – the town has a wide variety of pubs, nightclubs and restaurants, and you can easily stay for the night in one of the many hotels and B&Bs that are located along the streets near the beach. Want to know more, then head off here.

So there we have our first ever official top five non league away days. Now we are very happy to take suggestions on where we should head to re-assess our votes for the next six months, so if you want to nominate somewhere else for us to go to then email us at tbir@gmx.com and give us a reason why we should come and visit.

The agenda was similar.  1pm start at Lords for a Clydesdale Bank game then up the Jubilee line to Wembley for the richest game in Non-League football – the Blue Square Premier Play Off final.  The only change this year was that we wouldn’t be heading back to the o2 Arena as we did last year – Michael Buble is not really my cup of tea.

What makes the day better is that we get to experience the media facilities at both the home of cricket and the home of football.  Thanks to our friends at the MCC and The Football Conference we were in for a great day of sport.  I was meeting Danny Last, our Brighton correspondent and official TAT librarian of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, although of course TFL had decided to muck our plans up as much as possible by suspending the Jubilee line to Wembley – it’s OK chaps the 35,000 fans going to the play off game will just in a cab or something!

The Clydesdale Bank 40 is a new name for an old competition.  The cricketing authorities are still struggling to come up with a plan to bring back the crowds to domestic games since the successful launch of the Twenty20 format.  The 40 over game is still too much of a halfway house.  Some razzmatazz such as coloured kits and squad style numbering has been introduced but the game still doesn’t capture the neutrals imagination like the shorter game.  This season the competition had been extended with “national” teams Scotland, Ireland and Holland included as well as a team made up of the best Saturday league players – i.e Non League ones who were known as the Unicorns.

We were walking through the Grace gates and up into the space ship designed media centre to watch Middlesex take on Holland.  Nearly a year ago I was here to witness the Dutch’s finest ever cricketing moment when in the opening game of the Twenty20 World Cup they stunned the sporting world by beating hosts England.  A year on and they were “relegated” to playing county sides whilst England were taking on Australia in the final of the World Cup again in Barbados.

Holland are becoming a world force on the sporting stage.  The football team have been there for a few years, always just on the fringes of the final knock out stages of major tournaments but were currently the World Champions.  Yep, you have read it right – the Dutch are current football World Champions.  Check it out for yourself here.  It’s the same logic of course that once motivated the Scottish to claim they were World Champions in 1967 as well as West Ham currently being Champions League winners (well sort of). Then a few years ago there emerged the man known as “Barney” who took the world darts stage by storm and has since won 15 major honours and is recognised as the second best player in the world behind Phil “The Power” Taylor.  And finally you had the emergence of Julian Hardt as the World Champion Lock Picker after the Dutch Open Championships in Sneek.

Sunday didn’t exactly bring Perfect Storm weather.  Very cloudy, rain hanging in the air and certainly not shirt sleeve order.  But after a quick tour around the Lords museum, viewing the Ashes in the most nondescript case we headed up to the space ship to take in the game.

Middlesex Panthers v Holland – Clydesdale 40 Cup – Lords – Sunday 16th May
Why don’t the Dutch have a team name?  Middlesex are “The Panthers”, Sussex are “The Sharks” and Kent are “The Spitfires” where as the Dutch are simply “The Netherlands”.  Surely there has not been a better team to create a nickname for….Surely the advertising men could have been really creative on this one – “Holland Whores” would be my bet.

Middlesex won the toss and batted, with Andrew Strauss hitting a quick fire 26 off 24 balls.  Oh how Strauss must have been chuffed to bits to be playing in front of a hundred or so fans in the cloudy London gloom whilst his England team makes were facing their first major final in decades in the sunshine of Barbados later in the day.  One not to ask him at the press conference later I think.  After he departed, caught at slip by the only Dutch sounding player in the team, Bas Zuiderent, at slip it was left to the youngster Dawid Malan to keep the run rate around the 5 an over mark before he departed on 28, clean bowled by the ever-so-Dutch sounding Mohammad Kashif (born in Pakistan).  Shah, another England player probably green with envy at the events in Barbados dug in at this point and along with Berg put on a swift 90 before the rain started falling and we took this as our opportunity to leave one comfortable media area for another. (Post script – the game was later abandoned as a draw at this point thus giving The Netherlands their best result against an English county team since a win versus Durham in the C & G cup in 1999)

Thank’s to TFL’s fantastic planning we had to head south before we could head north up to Wemberlee. After last season’s ex-league club final between Cambridge United and Torquay United, we were looking forward to another showdown of two clubs with a league pedigree.  It was also a match up between two of the most feared strikers outside the Football League.  Step forward York City’s Richard Brodie and Oxford United’s James Constable.

Constable has previous at the stadium, scoring twice for Kidderminster Harriers in the 2007 FA Trophy final, and in the process becoming the scorer of the first competitive goal at the stadium (Pop Quiz – who scored the first non-competitive goal at the stadium?  Scroll to the bottom of the post to find out).

“I have had a dream about scoring at Wembley, but it might have been the goals for Kiddy coming back to me,” said Constable.

Oxford United had for long periods looked like the only team that could seriously challenge Stevenage Borough, but as they have in the past few seasons they faded after Christmas and ended up giving away second spot to Luton Town.  However, you cannot ever doubt the passion and number of their support.  They had brought over 30,000 for this game down the M40 and hoped to be returning back to the league where they left 4 years ago.

York’s exile had been a couple of years longer, losing their Football League status in 2004.  Last season the team finished in 17th place, and for a few weeks at the end of the season were in serious danger of dropping down another division.  However, this season with the 31 goals of Richard Brodie they had climbed the league since Christmas and fully deserved their place at Wembley after beating favourites Luton Town in a game that was marred by violence at Kenilworth Road.

“I think we’re definitely more equipped as a club and as a team and a squad to go there this year and do the job.  It is a great occasion but the top and bottom of it is we’re there to win a game of football.” Says Brodie.

York too can be very proud of their support.  They are recognised as some of the most loyal in the Blue Square Premier, and last season brought over 20,000 to Wembley for the FA Trophy final.  This time around they would be bringing less, perhaps knowing that today was simply not going to be their day.

Oxford United 3 York City 1 – Blue Square Premier Play Off Final – Wembley Stadium – Sunday 16th May
Coming out of the station we were met with a wall of yellow.  Oxford was going to be a very quiet place today as around 35,000 fans had travelled down the M40 for their first visit to Wembley since that heady day in spring 1986 when they beat QPR 3-0 to win the Milk Cup.  We helped ourselves to the delights of the press lounge and took our prime seats.

The team emerged to an impressive fireworks opening and lined up for one of the quickest ceremonial presentations ever as Sir Geoff Hurst flew down the line, shaking hands as if he was speed dating, although the heavy rain probably didn’t help his desire to stay out too long!  Preparation is the key in this game and Oxford couldn’t get enough, heading off behind the goal for a last minute warm up with the coach before the game kicked off.

First blood was so nearly drawn by York City, and it was down to the ”bloody Wembley pitch” again.  A York freekick was cleared by the Oxford defence and when the ball was played back in by David McGurk from all of 50 yards, it skidded up off the turf and caused the Oxford keeper Ryan Clarke to have to parry the ball over from under his own cross bar.

But it was Oxford who scored first.  Fifteen minutes gone and a ball over the top caused confusion in the York defence.  Ingham came out to clear but the ball was hacked over his head and fell to Matt Green who from the edge of the box turned and smashed the ball into the roof of a virtual unguarded net.  Five minutes later it was two nil as James Constable’s dream came true.  Another long ball over the top wasn’t dealt with by the York defence and a misguided header fell to the Oxford captain as he ran through and he powered home the ball past Ingham.  Cue the TV cameras panning onto the Royal Box where the two Jim’s (Smith and Rosenthal) were smiling away.

Queue even harder rain and even more Oxford pressure.  From a corner in the 26th minute Jack Midson lost his marker and hit the post with a header where he really should have scored.  York were on the ropes.  The Jorvik Ultras behind the goal looked deflated, soaked by the weather and the explosive start by Oxford.  Fight is what they demanded from their team but perhaps not in the Lawless sense as the York midfielder was booked for a late tackle which would have been a red on less auspicious occasions.

Forty two minutes on the clock and it was the ”bloody weather” this time to blame for the next piece of action.  Ben Purkiss put a deep cross into the Oxford box and Ryan Clarke appeared to catch the ball comfortably but then seemed collide with his own defender on the goal line, causing the ball to spill into the net.  A truly bizarre own goal but exactly what York needed.

So half time came, and both keepers couldn’t wait to get into the dressing room, hardly covering themselves in glory in the first half, although the conditions could probably be blamed for two of the three goals.

The rain simply didn’t want to stop and that made for a very entertaining half.  York came out the stronger, with Brodie causing problems with his pace and if it wasn’t for Tackle of the Season© by Oxford’s Mark Creighton it would have been all square.  Oxford then went up the other end and Simon Clist went close as his effort was well saved by Ingham.

The second half flew by as both teams showed a real positive spirit in one of the best finals I think Wembley has ever seen since it re-opened three years ago.  York probably just shaded it in terms of possession and chances but it was Oxford who broke the hearts as a York corner was cleared up to the half way line in the 90th minute and a smart one two left Alfie Potter with the simplest of jobs to score a third and thus win promotion back to the Football League – Click here to watch Danny Last’s fine video of the goal.

So Oxford took the cup (a bigger one than league winners Stevenage actually) and York could only reflect on what could have been.  Credit where credit is due as their players stayed on the pitch to watch Oxford collect the trophy when all they probably wanted to do was go home and get smashed.  Oxford worthy winners?  Certainly a Football League team that has been hiding in the Conference for too long (as too have York) and I am sure the mistakes both on and off the field that saw them relegated out of the Football League will not be repeated.

Our fun hadn’t quite finished though.  We headed down to the press conference and hear some words of humility from Martin Foyle before Chris Wilder came out and gave the press some direct answers, very different from the standard fayre dished up by Alfie Potter and James Constable on either side of him.  Wilder ended the conference by telling the assembled audience that he intended to “spend the next 2 weeks ripping the arse out of this victory”.  A quote that probably wont make the Guardian tomorrow!

Same time, same place next year anyone?

More pictures from the day can be found on our Flickr page.

Danny Last’s more humours view of events can be found here.

*The scorer of the first non-competitive goal in a game at Wembley Stadium was Mark Bright in a charity game in March 2007

Blue Square Premier
Only three teams were relegated last year after Chester city withdrew mid-season so four teams have been promoted – namely Newport County and Bath City from Blue Square South, and Southport and Fleetwood from Blue Square North.  Added to this are Darlington and Grimsby Town from Football League Two.  For some reason York City are “to be determined” which sounds ominous although no one we spoke to at Wembley on Sunday could tell us why.

Then Salisbury City were demoted to the Zameretto League thus meaning Forest Green Rovers got a reprieve – understand yet?

Blue Square South

So with two going up and the 3 W’s going down (Weymouth, Weston and Worcester) this one should have been relatively simple right?  Er not quite.  Ebbsfleet United and Forest Green Rovers have joined from the Premier, setting up the mouth watering prospect of the return of the Dartford v Ebbsfleet derby and the former were promoted as champions from the Rymans League.  Joining them, still in my book controversially, is Boreham Wood who seem to have been forgiven for the behaviour of their fans in the Play Off final versus Kingstonians.  Also coming up are Farnborough Town as Zamaretto League Champions.  Oh and then Weston got a reprieve!

Blue Square North

So this is where the fun starts.  Firstly the league welcomes Unibond promotees Guiseley and Boston United, but to even up the numbers again Vauxhall Motors and Harrogate Town who were the two relegated teams last season have earnt a reprieve.  Added to this Worcester City, who were in theory relegated from the Blue Square South have been moved to this league.  Oh how I am sure they will relish the trips to the likes of Workington and Blyth Spartans.  Nuneaton Town also join the league after winning the Zamaretto League Play Off.  Leaving the league is Northwich Victoria who despite a mid table finish last term have been told they are not welcome in the league.

Rymans (Isthmian) Premier
A couple of changes from the normal here.  Bury Town switch from the Zamaretto League and Margate earn a reprieve from relegation to be joined by promotees Lowestofty, Concord Rangers, Croydon Athletic and Folkestone Invicta.  What this does mean is than no teams join the league from the Blue Square South.

Zamaretto (Southern) League
So apart from Bury Town’s switch to the Ryman’s league, Tiverton Town get a reprieve from relegation and are joined by Weymouth and Weston-Super-Mare from the Blue Square South as well as promotees Chesham Town, Cirencester Town and Windsor & Eaton who probably had their eye on a spot in the Rymans.

Evostick (Northern) Premier
New sponsor, same old league as Northwich join the party along with resurgent FC Halifax Town, Colwyn Bay, FA specialists Chasetown and Mickleover Sports.  Ossett Town earn a reprieve to balance the numbers up.

I could go down one step further but for the sake of brevity I will keep it at steps 1-3.  However, there are two notable items just below this.

Firstly, VCD Athletic, the club borne out of the Vickers ammunition works in Crayford, Kent have been thrown out of the Ryman’s League, pending appeal, due to not having the required ground grading in time.  We visited their lovely little ground last year and for the level of football they play could not fault it at all.  Lets hope sense prevails and they get their place back – after all last season they were only a few points off the play off spots in their first season at that level.

Secondly, and more newsworthy is the fact that one name is glaringly missing – Grays Athletic.  Obviously relegated last season from the Blue Square Premier and homeless after their Recreation Ground was sold from under their feet, they had planned on entering the Ryman’s league with a ground share at East Thurrock United.  But that does not seem to have satisfied the FA who have simply not included them anywhere.  Any changes now would require some drastic re-organisations so it must be assumed that they will be starting in Step 5 in the Essex Senior Leagues – quite a come down for a side who had so much non-league success only a handful of seasons ago.  It will remain to be seen whether the high profile ex-West Ham management team of John Moncur, Julian Dicks and Kenny Brown will remain at the club.  We did try and contact someone at the club, and at the Ryman’s league but nobody answered the phone to comment.

Obviously the FA are free to change this at their whim without any explanation but for now it seems that all clubs entering the season are doing so on a stable financial footing.  We shall see.

The next step is the publication of the fixtures in July which will be eagerly awaited by many – Ebbsfleet United v Dartford and Gloucester City v Worcester City are two derbies thrown up by the new structure and will be ones TBIR will be reporting from next season.  We can’t wait!

STOP PRESS
Very strong rumour heard over meatballs at Thurrock Ikea this morning is that a merger with East Thurrock United is the likely result for Grays Athletic and thus a spot in the Ryman’s Div 1 North…or Billericay Town….