Football : An early history

 For those who had no idea and maybe those who had some idea.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHXco1MnsPE

I learned a few things.

The season gets going with the start of the F.A.Cup = 8th August

 All my selections are playing this weekend.

I hope to get to the F.A.Cup match between Bovey Tracey and Exmouth Town. I expect a larger crowd than normal as the match has that tag of being an "F.A.Cup Match". 

Brentford open their fixtures with a match against Rennes.

The Plymouth v. Exeter Devon Derby has to wait until Monday.

Wrexham take on Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup.

Plenty to get my teeth into.

We have had a lot of preamble but now things start to get serious.

Midweek 4th & 5th August

 The midweek results:

Two wins followed by two losses.

August 1st and 2nd

 August begins and we are starting to see some real matches.

In the Carabao Cup Preliminary Round Crawley beat York by 2 goals to nil on Monday night. In the Saturday fixture Tranmere drew 2-2 with Rochdale and that led to the worst set of penalties I have ever seen as Rochdale won 2-1. 

The teams that I am following produced these results:

 I paid for the Arsenal coverage on Arsenal.com so I can watch all of the pre-season games.

The second half of the match against Girona saw a raft of youth team members coming on to represent the first team. I look forward to seeing who impressed Mikel Arteta enough to make a first team appearance in a more serious match. We are now holders of the Costa Brava Cup. So in our first match we win our first trophy. It is rather similar to the Emirates Cup but it is run by Girona.

Two of my teams in a friendly match

 One win and one loss.

The home team won this one.

Final Friendly before August begins

 Torquay United took on Exeter City at the end of July.

Devon Derby

Devon League = Elmore (Eagles)

 No friendlies easily found on the internet so straight into the season.

Two games a week every week at the start of the season.

Elmore is where I started my Football Pyramid adventure looking at Level 10 at the time. They are Level 11 now.

Teignmouth = South West Peninsula League East

I could not find any pre-season fixtures or results although they should have some.

 

The F.A.Vase starts on 15th August against Ivybridge Town.

The League starts one week earlier on August 8th.

The pictures of the ground look lovely so I hope to get to a few matches this season.

Bovey Tracey = My Western League Premier Division pick

 I dropped Buckland Athletic despite visiting them a couple of times in favour of Bovey Tracey who are my local team.

They made it into the Western League so they must have passed the ground grading that all clubs have to go through.

I am really looking forward to the debut of Bovey Tracey in the F.A.Cup.

The League Season started with a 4-2 win against Wellington. I notice that I have not checked the result against Buckland Athletic but my excuse is that the whole family were taken up with my grand daughter's 4th birthday. I can now get back to updating my spreadsheets.

Exmouth Town = My Southern League Division One South pick

 I have made several trips to watch Exmouth Town who are the team at the end of the railway line. As you watch the match you can see the trains come and go although there are not that many.

The results have been poor in the pre-season friendlies but that does not necessarily mean anything when it some to the main season.

I do want to attend the F.A.Cup match at Bovey Tracey as I am following both teams this season. Exmouth are the senior side being a level above but Bovey are still riding high on their promotion to the Western League.

The League season starts on 11th August and I expect some of those empty dates to be filled by fixtures scheduled for later in the season.

Wimborne Town = My Southern League Premier South pick

 Wimborne are a new team to me and when I saw the list of friendlies I realised they are just that bit too far as the Dorset and Wiltshire teams appear strongly.

A solid set of results with just one more match to go.

The league season starts on 8th August with a trip to Frome.

Torquay United = My National League South pick

 With the exception of the local derby against Exeter City the pre-season friendlies are complete.

The league season starts at home to Horsham.

I have been to watch Torquay United and I think they need a new ground to progress as their current ground is surrounded by housing. There is little room to expand.

Worthing = My National League pick

 Good luck George Dowell.

Worthing had a lot of bad luck in that they should have been promoted in the two season that there were no promotions due to Covid.

I went to see this club a few times when my mother lived in Worthing and they have a lovely ground with a friendly atmosphere. Sadly, the higher you go the more you have to conform to the larger and unfriendly grounds that league teams have adopted.

Here are the good crop of pre-season friendlies:

So far no defeats which is a good sign. One cancellation but I did wonder about that with a match the night before.

The league season starts with probably the longest journey Worthing have ever had to endure as they travel to Carlisle.

I hope I can get to watch the Wealdstone match with a 12:30 start but we will wait to see how the TV companies share out the coverage. I cannot easily get to Worthing so I need TV coverage or I have to meet a friendly helicopter owner.

Exeter City = My League Two pick

 From what I remember historically we have played far fewer friendly fixtures than normal.

Two more friendlies to be played before we hit the ground running on Monday night 10th August.

We begin the season away at Grimsby so I expect to be in the relegation zone after week one. It is long season though.

Plymouth Argyle = My League One pick

 A very successful pre-season so far still has a couple of matches to go.

The Carabao Cup first round fixture has been put back to the Monday night.

I wonder if the draw for the second round will take place during this fixture.

The League Fixtures start on 15th August. A home fixture is a good way to begin.

Wrexham = My Championship pick

 I have been following and watching the early pre-season friendlies and there is still one to go.

Real action starts on 8th August when we travel to Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup.

The Championship starts with an evening kick-off just like Arsenal.

The season starts with a North South Welsh Derby and August ends with a match against long time rivals Birmingham.

Brentford = My Premier League Pick

 I think there may be two matches away against Rennes but I have seen this before and thing may change last minute.

The Premier League action starts against Spurs:

So far I have kept Brentford on since they were promoted as I always find this team entertaining.

ARSENAL = My long time favourite club

 

It all starts on Saturday with a trip to Girona. I know that there is a good webcam at Girona station so I may have to monitor that just to feel in touch with the fans travelling to the opening friendly fixture.

Borussia Dortmund are the opponents for the Emirates Cup on 9th August.

Then the Premier League gets going:

So we begin with an evening kick-off against Frank Lampard.

Last two days before August

 The start of the football season has always traditionally been August.

We are already well underway with pre-season friendlies. Also, the Western League started on 25th July.

I will detail August team by team following this post with information concluding July.

The Wrexham fixture took place in the United States overnight.

Exeter travel to Torquay united in a local derby on Friday night, 31st July.

Good results last night

 Worthing and Wimborne both won their matches on Tuesday evening.

August is fast approaching.

Weekend Results

 

The most notable result here is Wrexham from the Championship beating Leeds United from the Premier League.

Midweek results

 

Catch up with Bovey Tracey

 I am looking forward to the F.A.Cup Extra Preliminary Round when Bovey Tracey will take on Exmouth Town. That is on the 8th August.

In the meantime here are the Bovey Tracey results so far:

A very positive start.

A friendly full Saturday

 The weekend results:

I am very happy to see the Wrexham win over Manchester United regardless of the strength of the two teams.

Plymouth did the job against Bath City.

Exeter disappointed in their first friendly of the new season.

Worthing earned a creditable draw away at Frome Town.

Torquay beat Weston.

Wimborne had their first defeat at the hands of Salisbury.

Exmouth Town got their first win away at Cullompton Rangers.

The latest friendlies

 Tuesday night saw these results:

One excellent win and two losses.

I am most disappointed by the results Exmouth Town are producing as I have watched them live a few times in past seasons.

Friendlies continue

The next set of results:

 

Two wins, two draws and another defeat for Exmouth Town.

A few more friendlies

 Midweek results:

Two wins and a draw in the next tranche of fixtures.

Worthing travel to Bournemouth to take on the Under 21s tonight.

New Season - Friendlies Begin

 The first few friendlies of the new season have taken place.

So a field of green is a pleasant beginning.

Enjoyable season

 I have enjoyed this season more than most. This is partly due to the performances of Arsenal and Brentford but mostly because I just watched and celebrated rather than memorising and blogging. It is probably time to stop this blog or find another way to record information received.

I think Wrexham were lucky to miss out on promotion. Extra seasons in the Championship did Brentford no harm at all. I look forward to watching the “Welcome to Wrexham” documentary. Rob and Ryan are going to have to suck up the success of Tom Brady.

Exeter were relegated after starting the season well. League Two may be their level and I hope they fall no further.

Salford are in the playoffs and I look forward to the match against Grimsby today.

Tamworth finished mid table.

Worthing are promoted as Champions. I hope George Dowell is continuing to make the documentary that I so enjoyed last season.

Tiverton got well and truly relegated. I look forward to their future in Division One South.

Exmouth remain in Division one South so I think I drop Tiverton for next season.

Buckland remain in the Western League.

Bovey Tracey should be promoted from the South West Peninsula League but I worry about their ground grading. If it happens then they will replace Buckland in my book.

Almost everything this season has been positive, including the relegations. Roll on next season.

The summary : October 28th 2025

Level 0 (Favourite) Arsenal = Top of the Premier League

Four points clear of AFC Bournemouth

Five points clear of Tottenham Hotspur (most important)

Five points clear of Granit Xhaka inspired Sunderland

Six points clear of the most dangerous Manchester City

Six points clear of lond standing bogey team Manchester United

Seven points clear of the pre-season favourites Liverpool

Level 1 (Premier League) Brentford = Mid table Premier League

Pre-season prediction was relegation (including me) with the loss of Norgaard, Mbeumo & Wissa.

Inspirational in the way that the team won the match against Liverpool by 3 goals to 2.

Now at the top of the bottom half of the table.

Mikkel Damsgaard, once thought of as a weak link, has taken to strong shots from distance.

Level 2 (Championship) Wrexham = Just below mid-table in the Championship

Going well in the English Football League Cup (match against Cardiff tonight).

Kieffer Moore leading the scoring and Josh Windass also scoring well.

Ryan Hardie, Sam Smithe and Nathan Broadhead also on the scoresheet.

With goals coming from the forward line the question is how good are the defenders?

Level 3 (League One) Exeter = Clear of the relegation zone

The most important game of the season resulted in a 2-0 win against Plymouth Argyle.

Lots of poor results recently with the exception of Lincoln City away.

Level 4 (League Two) Salford = Heading for Promotion

Third in the table behind Walsall and Swindon Town.

Level 5 (National League) Tamworth = Ninth in the league table

All options available for my pick at this level.

Level 6 (National League South) Worthing = Just outside the playoffs

George Dowell's club is looking good this season. He deserves this from COVID times.

The best result was a 7-0 victory in the Sussex Senior Cup against Jarvis Brook.

Level 7 (Southern League Premier South) Tiverton = Deep in the relegation zone

One point above Bracknell Town but heading for a dive down after years at this level.

Level 8 (Southern League Division One South) Exmouth = Well in the promotion race

MY favourite team in the lower levels. Third behind Frome and Portishead.

Level 9 (Western League Premier Division) Buckland Athletic = Sixth Place

Will need a run of good results to push up into the promotion zone.

Level 10 (South West Peninsula League East) Bovey Tracey = Top of the League

I must go and watch this winning team as they are only fifteen minutes away.

Level 11 (Devon League) Elmore = Thirteenth

My journey started with Elmore so I am reluctant to give them up.

Arsenal' s Missing Result

 There was another missing result so here is that one:

Brentford : Missing Result

 Did you spot the missing result? If you did not then it does not matter, but if you did here it is:

I was compiling all the results while that match was on.

New Carpets Fitted = Catch Up Required

 Here you go:

Make up your own mind, particularly with City parking the bus.

All Green on September 2nd

 The results:

Liverpool v. Arsenal

 One result on Sunday:

It IS too early to say but the title is heading to Liverpool.

30th August results

 A mixed bunch:

I must go and watch Bovey Tracey as they are just down the road.

Carabao Cup Night 26th August

 Results:

Very happy with the two cup teams and disappointed with Buckland.

Today: 25th August

 The scores:

Well done Exmouth Town.