Broken Teams

I was updating all my league tables and found another missing club. There are many reasons why teams have to abandon their leagues and I will investigate the ones that have left by the end of October.

The Premier and Football Leagues are usually safe from resignations because of the level of money coming in. They can always sack backroom staff before they have to fold.

The National League appears to be stronger season on season and they are all still in the competition.

Step 3, Level 7 also still has a full complement, as does Step 4, Level 8. 20 teams in each division.

Step 5, Level 9 sees the first loss from any league:

Blyth AFC resigned from the Northern League Division One in August 2018. From wikipedia I have discovered that ......

Blyth Town was established in 1995 as a junior club, initially having three boys teams. They gradually expanded to more age groups, and added both men's and women's adult teams in 2002, with the men's team entering Division Two of the Northern Alliance. The club won Division Two at the first attempt, earning promotion to Division One. In 2004–05 they finished as Division One runners-up and were promoted to the Premier Division. The club were Premier Division champions in 2013–14, and the following season saw them win the treble of the Premier Division, Challenge Cup and George Dobbins League Cup.

In 2015 the first team broke away from the main club to become a separate organisation. After winning the Premier Division and Challenge Cup again in 2015–16, they were promoted to Division Two of the Northern League.

In 2017 the club was renamed Blyth AFC. The 2017–18 season saw them win the Division Two title, earning promotion to Division One. Despite winning their first four league games of the 2018–19 season, the club resigned from the league and folded on 28 August 2018 due to a lack of support and permanent home ground.

So there you have it. Maybe the speed of promotions was too great for the club. It is better to build slowly unless you have the money like Salford City.

I now look at Step 6, Level 10.

The Hellenic League have seen two clubs disappear from their leagues ...

Bicester Town resigned from Division One East when they lost their ground.
Carterton resigned from Division One West. They mention an EGM to vote in the new club structure so my guess is that the old guard pulled out leaving the club leaderless.

The only other loss at this level seems to be Gravesham Borough from the Southern Counties East League. The information on wikipedia is as follows:

The club was established in 1927. The club was originally known as Bowater Thames and joined the Kent County League in 1971. In 1973 they changed their name to Bowaters in 1973 and three years later again to Bowater Sports. The 1985–86 campaign saw the club finish as winners of the Senior Division of the western section of the Kent County League. The following season saw the club play under a different name, this time Bowater Scott Sports & Social. 1987 saw the club again change its name to Scott Sports and Social.

In 1992 the Kent County League was restructured so that the top teams in the east and west sections would now play each other in the newly formed Premier Division and the club was placed in this new division. The club stayed in the Premier Division until the end of the 1994–95 campaign when they finished bottom of the league and were relegated to Division One West. The club in 1996 again changed its name, this time to Beauwater. They achieved promotion back to the Premier Division when they finished as runners-up in Division One West at the end of the 1999–2000 campaign.

In 2005 the club changed their name to Fleet Leisure, when the sports and social club the team is based at was taken over by Fleet Leisure Ltd. At the end of the 2012–13 campaign after finishing fourth in the Premier Division the club gained promotion to the Kent Invicta Football League. For the 2014-15 season the club changed its name from Fleet Leisure to Gravesham Borough. The 2016–17 season saw the club enter the FA Cup for the first time in their history when they entered the competition in the preliminary qualification round. They folded prior to the 2018–19 season after being unable to raise the funding required to continue playing.

Money, Money, Money. Without it football clubs die.

Continuing to look at the leagues with their top division in the top ten, some of them have divisions that extend to Level 11 and 12.

Hellenic League Division Two West have lost two teams.

Carterton Development you can understand as the first team have gone, although in some cases where the problem is players leaving sometimes the second team steps up.

The other missing team is Letcombe. Again I went to wikipedia to find that:

The club were Division One East runners-up in 2003–04, but were unable to take promotion due to a lack of floodlights at their ground. Three seasons later they were moved back into the West division, where the club remained until being moved back into the East division in 2011. In 2012 they were moved back to Division One West. At the end of the 2017–18 season the club were demoted to Division Two West due to the ground not meeting the requirements for their level. However, the club withdrew from the league shortly before the start of the 2018–19 season, with the first team taking over from the reserves in Division Three of the North Berks League.

We should see a meteoric rise over the next few seasons.

The most recent loss is Tring Corinthians who resigned from the Spartan South Midlands League Division Two in October 2018. The reason may appear in time but all of the google references lead to out of date websites.

There will be more as time goes on but for now that is it.

Level 1 = Premier League = Arsenal

MY TEAM.

For all my moaning about my team and failing to make the Champions League in the past few seasons we are always there or close to it and I have never had to worry about relegation to that pit of aggressive football, the Championship.

I think that Arsenal will always be my pick for the Premier League and this season we seem to have been in the market for players. Perhaps our owner, Stan Kroenke, has picked up on the fact that Pethe fans think he takes more out of the club than he puts in. Perhaps he is worried for the safety of his son who he appointed to run things. Anyway it is good to see that we have spent money on players that can improve things for the club.

Pepe is a leading light and Tierney coming from Scottish football has things to prove to both himself and us about the level of Scottish football. I am looking forward to this season as all football fans do when the season begins and a 1-0 win away at Newcastle with Aubameyang setting off in pursuit of the golden boot is a good enough start for me.

Eastleigh - The season so far

The season began for Eastleigh with four away friendlies.

Gosport Borough 0 Eastleigh 2

AFC Totton 0 Eastleigh 3

Basingstoke Town 1 Eastleigh 1   (plus a personal record of the match here)

Leatherhead 1 Eastleigh 3

We then get a home friendly and a final away friendly.

Eastleigh 0 Gillingham 4   (and a personal record of the match here)

Winchester City 2 Eastleigh 0

The Vanarama National League matches then started in earnest. I found a few VLOG entries covering some of the matches but I will not post those here as it is meant to be a quick summary of the season.
O.K. I have posted some as "personal record".

Eastleigh 1 Solihull Moors 2   (personal record of the match here)

Sutton United 1 Eastleigh 0

Barnet 1 Eastleigh 2   (personal record of the match here)

Eastleigh 1 Bromley 0   (personal record of the match here)

Eastleigh 1 Wrexham 3

Dover Athletic 1 Eastleigh 2

Three wins and three losses in the first three matches is a reasonable start, but things got worse.

Eastleigh 0 Ebbsfleet United 1   (personal record of the match here)

Harrogate Town 4 Eastleigh 0

Maidenhead United 2 Eastleigh 0   (personal record of the match here)

Eastleigh 0 AFC Fylde 0   (personal record of the match here)

Hartlepool United 1 Eastleigh 1   (personal record of the match here)

The defeat of the season then came in the Hampshire Senior Cup. Somehow Eastleigh were drawn against AFC Bournemouth.

AFC Bournemouth 8 Eastleigh 1

Back to the league and Eastleigh went on a good run.

Eastleigh 1 Dagenham & Redbridge 0

Eastleigh 1 Boreham Wood 0   (personal record of the match here)

Gateshead 0 Eastleigh 1

The 1-0 victories seemed to be the way forward for Eastleigh. Not for long.

Braintree Town 1 Eastleigh 2   (personal record of the match here)

Eastleigh 1 Aldershot 2   (personal record of the match here)

FC Halifax Town 0 Eastleigh 1   (personal record of the match here)

The last two matches have been a couple of home draws.

Eastleigh 1 Leyton Orient 1

Eastleigh 1 Salford City 1

This latest draw against the league leaders is a good result.


If I find any short highlights I will replace the longer ones above.

I think this team will have to go next season as there is not enough information online.

Exeter City - The season so far

The season started with a couple of wins.

Exeter 3 Carlisle United 1

Morecambe 0 Exeter 2

The first round of the Carabao Cup ended in a draw that was decided on penalties.

Exeter 1 Ipswich Town 1

One of each in the next three league matches.

Exeter 1 Newport County 1

Cambridge United 0 Exeter 2

Milton Keynes Dons 1 Exeter 0

Back to the Carabao Cup and Exeter travel to Fulham

Fulham 2 Exeter 0

Next up were league leaders Lincoln City.

Exeter 0 Lincoln City 3

The Checkatrade Trophy saw another draw decided on penalties.

Yeovil Town 0 Exeter 0

The next four matches saw four wins. Three in the league and one in the Checkatrade Trophy.

Exeter 5 Notts County 1

Mansfield Town 1 Exeter 2

Exeter 3 Cheltenham Town 1

Exeter 2 West Ham United U21s 0

The last eight matches have all been in League Two.

Port Vale 1 Exeter 1

Exeter 1 Stevenage 0

Yeovil Town 2 Exeter 2

Exeter 2 Swindon Town 0

Grimsby Town 0 Exeter 0

Crawley Town 1 Exeter 1

Exeter 1 Forest Green Rovers 2

Tranmere Rovers 2 Exeter 0

The next fixture on the list is a Checkatrade Trophy match against Bristol Rovers.

Southend United - The season so far

Southend started this season with 15 friendlies and that is far too many to root out and present to you. Consequently I am going to start with the league season.

Southend 2 Doncaster Rovers 3

Plymouth Argyle 1 Southend 1

Then came the Carabao Cup first round match against Brentford that you may have seen in my previous post.

Southend 2 Brentford 4

Having gone out of the Carabao Cup Southend were then free to concentrate on the league.

Southend 2 Bradford 0

Luton Town 2 Southend 0

Bristol Rovers 0 Southend 1

Southend 1 Charlton Athletic 2

After that fight and the three red cards it was the turn of the Checkatrade Trophy.

Southend 3 Cambridge United 1

That result earned us a local derby against Colchester United. It did not go well.

Colchester United 2 Southend 0

There were six league matches between the two Checkatrade Trophy matches.

Here they are:

Southend 2 Peterborough United 3

Shrewsbury Town 2 Southend 0

Southend 1 Fleetwood Town 0

Wycombe Wanderers 2 Southend 3

Burton Albion 1 Southend 2

Southend 0 Oxford United 0

After the defeat to Colchester there have been two wins and three defeats.

Gillingham 0 Southend 2

Southend 1 Coventry City 2

Southend 3 Walsall 0

Sunderland 3 Southend 0

Barnsley 1 Southend 0


The next scheduled match is against Southampton Under 21s in the Checkatrade Trophy.

Brentford - The season so far

Brentford, like Arsenal, started their pre-season with a friendly against Boreham Wood.

Boreham Wood 1 Brentford 2

The pre-season continued with some foreign visitors and a friendly against Karlsruher.

Brentford 1 Karlsruher 2

The pre-season continued as follows:

Wycombe Wanderers 0 Brentford 1

Shrewsbury 2 Brentford 3

Tottenham 2 Brentford 1

Brentford 1 Watford 2


The Football League Championship started with a bang and Rotherham were on the receiving end.

Brentford 5 Rotherham 1

Brentford remained unbeaten over the next four games including their Carabao Cup match against Southend United.

Stoke 1 Brentford 1

Southend United 2 Brentford 4

Brentford 2 Sheffield Wednesday 0

Aston Villa 2 Brentford 2

The first defeat came on the long road trip to Blackburn.

Blackburn 1 Brentford 0

Next up came the Second Round of the Carabao Cup.

Brentford 1 Cheltenham 0

There were four more matches in the League before Brentford met Arsenal in the Carabao Cup.

Brentford 2 Nottingham Forest 1

Brentford 2 Wigan 0

Ipswich 1 Brentford 1

Derby County 3 Brentford 1

Arsenal 3 Brentford 1

The next three matches were draws and the following three were defeats. During the month of October the Brentford manager Dean Smith left the club for a better job at Aston Villa where he gets to work with John Terry.

Brentford 2 Reading 2

Brentford 1 Birmingham 1

Leeds United 1 Brentford 1

Brentford 0 Bristol City 1

The next one is worth a viewing.

Preston North End 4 Brentford 3

Norwich 1 Brentford 0

After the month of October, a bad one, Brentford have returned to winning ways.

Brentford 2 Millwall 0


This places Brentford firmly in a mid table position, nine points from the top and eleven points from the bottom.

Arsenal - The season so far

Arsenal's season started back in July with an Aubameyang hat-trick away to Boreham Wood in an 8-0 thrashing. Five other players opened their pre-season with a goal and you can watch it all here:

Boreham Wood 0 Arsenal 8

Arsenal then took part in the pre-season International Champions Cup. This resulted in two draws to start and end the tournament with a good win in the middle.

Atletico Madrid 1 (3) Arsenal 1 (1)

Arsenal 5 Paris St Germain 1

Arsenal 1 (6) Chelsea 1 (5)

This last match was good for the Arsenal spirit as we equalised in the 93rd minute and went on to win the penalty shootout. Small margins can make a huge difference.

We then took on Lazio which is listed as a friendly but may as well have been just another match in the International Champions Cup.

Arsenal 2 Lazio 0

We then started the Premier League campaign with defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea.

Arsenal 0 Manchester City 2

Chelsea 3 Arsenal 2

After that tough and ultimately poor start to the season we started a winning run that made us look good and started to build the confidence of the squad.

Arsenal 3 West Ham 1

Cardiff 2 Arsenal 3

Newcastle 1 Arsenal 2

Arsenal 2 Everton 0

Arsenal 2 Watford 0

At this point in the premier league season we had to travel across London to Fulham. It was a good day.

Fulham 1 Arsenal 5

We suffered a reaction to that excellent away win when Leicester took us apart in the first half of the next match but we did recover the situation.

Arsenal 3 Leicester 1

Our last two league matches were draws, one a disappointment and one that gives us hope for the rest of the season.

Crystal Palace 2 Arsenal 2

Arsenal 1 Liverpool 1 - The football bogeymen have prevented You-Tube publication yet.

Milner from outside the box and Lacazette twist, turn and shoot from a narrow angle.

ALSO

Whilst our Premier League campaign got underway we have competed in two other competition.

The Carabao Cup has seen us beat Brentford and Blackpool. It has also seen us drawn against Tottenham but we have to beat them in the League before we beat them in the Cup.

Arsenal 3 Brentford 1

Arsenal 2 Blackpool 1


The Europa Cup forces us to play football on Spursday nights which is painful. We need to restore the rightful order of things before too much time passes.

We have played three matches so far with the return against Sporting Lisbon (now known as Sporting Club Portugal) on Thursday. The story of the cup so far is as follows:

Arsenal 4 Vorksla Poltava 2

Qarabag 0 Arsenal 3

Sporting CP 0 Arsenal 1

The winning streak covered 11 matches and the unbeaten run is not 14 matches. If we are to see a return to the invincibles then we need to continue producing the results and replace Shkodran Mustafi who has talent but who makes too many silly mistakes.

Annoying the fans must be a German trait.

Relegation from Level 10 Step 6

Before I begin I have a little problem. I need to find a different blog system that will allow me easily to copy from an Excel spreadsheet into this text window. Does anybody know a good one?

Now to the main subject which is promotion and relegation at the bottom of the pyramid. I am sure I will get sidetracked at some point as this is a train of thought blog. I shall one day plan, correlate and rewrite my thinkage but for now you get what comes into my head and you can suck it up or leave.

The Premier League and Football League have been running for so long now that we all know the process involving playoff matches that results in promotion from the level below to the level above and relegation running the other way. I have for years now tried to follow the pyramid all the way down and believe me it gets a lot more complicated very quickly.

During the summer we saw that Swansea, Stoke and West Bromwich Albion were relegated from the Premier League to be replaced by Fulham, Cardiff and Wolverhampton Wanderers. This proves that if you lose one team with a long name beginning with W that you need to replace it with another team possessing a long name beginning with W. That is just the way it is.

You can easily find the teams promoted and relegated in the Football League and at the end of that list you will find that Barnet and Chestefield exited the league to be replaced by Macclesfield Town and Tranmere Rovers who happened to finish first and second in the National League. That does not always happen due to the playoffs which allow a team in form at the end of the season to climb above their level and gain promotion.

At the bottom of the National League you get the first (although simple) complication as four teams are relegated to the National League North and National League South and it seems to be more often three-one than two-two although I have not yet noticed a four-nil relegation. Two teams from each of those leagues are promoted and usually one team is transferred between the leagues to even things up. Only the F.A.s finest politicians are allowed to know the arguments that result in that decision.

This summer it WAS a two-two split as Chester & Guiseley dropped into the National North while Torquay and Woking dropped into the National South. Helen Chamberlain must be devastated as the freefall of Torquay United continues. Salford City under the direction of Gary Neville were promoted along with Harrogate Town from the Northern division. Braintree Town and Havant & Waterlooville were promoted from the South division but both of these two are currently in the relegation zone and may go straight back down.

With some clubs folding and others refusing promotion things can get more complicated so I decided to go all the way to the bottom of the pyramid and check on the promotions and relegations between levels 10 and 11.

 What I found surprised me slightly but not greatly. Of the 34 teams finishing bottom of the level 10 leagues 21 kept their place in their league while only an unlucky 13 were actually dropped out of the top 10, 12 to level 11 and one to level 12.

Cove and Bagshot kept their places in the Combined Counties league while British Airways and Tooting Bec were promoted from the Middlesex County League and the Surrey Elite Intermediate League respectively. Some level 10 leagues are undersubscribed and ambitious clubs will always want to play at the highest level that they can.

At this point I should say that I learned a few things over the last couple of seasons. Level 11 teams are considered amateur while level 10 is the start of the professional game although you will always find exceptions to any rule. Consequently when I went to support a level 10 club I payed £3.50 and got some good entertainment last season. This year, after relegation to level 11 I was able to walk in free and watch some of the same players.

Another level 11 club I watched charged me an entrance fee this season but they were playing a level 10 club in a cup match and I have no idea what the rules are in that situation. I did talk to a member of staff who said that they were forced to produce a program for the match so that must be one of the rules for matches involving a level 10 team. Knowing what I now know I think that the South West Peninsula League which covers levels 10 and 11 is a very good idea to introduce clubs coming up to the new rules that they will have to adhere to.

The Southern Combination have a system involving thee clubs being promoted and relegated but all three were reprieved this year. Billingshurst, Oakwood and Southwick all retained their places and as far as I can see no other teams joined them. You only have to be relegated if there are teams wanting to replace you and I can understand some clubs not wishing to get involved with all the F.A.Rules.

I read somewhere that one club was refused promotion by the F.A. because their paved path from the gate to the grandstand was two slabs short. I hope there were some other requirements that were not met but if the F.A. really wants to promote football rather than whip clubs into submission they could have paid for two slabs to be delivered. I bought some for less than a fiver not so long ago.

My spreadsheet lists 69 clubs who were either promoted or finished top of their league and opted not to be promoted from Step 7, level 11. As I said earlier it does get complicated at this level.

30 Clubs stayed in the same league that they were in last season, 2 moved sideways and Smithswood Firs folded but I have not yet found out why. That means that 36 clubs actually took the promotion that they had earned. Some clubs not at the top of their leagues took advantage of the restructure and applied to the new divisions to be rewarded with an undeserved promotion but when you consider how quickly some players come and go the strength of a side can vary greatly from season to season.

One league that intrigued me but it is in an area that has been an anomaly for a while is the Essex Olympian League that remains at Level 11 but where the only promotion was to the Essex Senior League at Level 9. In this league Catholic United won the title but refused promotion while three clubs finishing lower down were taken into the newly formed Eastern Counties League division One South which will eventually become a feeder to the Essex Senior League.

It took a lot of time to work through the complications but for me it is worth it as I love a challenge and as I build my spreadsheet it becomes easier to refer from one to another to locate the information I need to further my understanding.

I still think the F.A. have got it wrong. The simpletons in charge want a 1-2-4-8-16 structure which can be tweaked within a few seasons but they then have to encourage those 16 leagues to change to a two subsidiary league structure which means bringing in a LOT more teams at level 10 which is where all the complications start and why so many teams choose not to come under the wings of the uncaring, whip carrying Football Association.

How about looking at the shape of the country and adding another league at Step 2, Level 6? That would fit nicely with last season's three subsidiary leagues. One fewer relegation from the National League would enable some teams to build their push for the football league. If you do not get the top right the bottom will fall apart sooner rather than later.

The draw for the first round of the F.A.Cup has taken place.

Here is the draw including the league and level of the teams:

Haringey Borough (ILP) 7
v.
Macclesfield Town (L2) 4

Ebbsfleet United (NL) 5
v.
Cheltenham Town (L2) 4

Hampton & Richmond Borough (NS) 6
v.
Oldham Athletic (L2) 4

Swindon Town (L2) 4
v.
York City (NN) 6

Mansfield Town (L2) 4
v.
Charlton Athletic (L1) 3

Torquay United (NS) 6
v.
Woking (NS) 6

Scunthorpe United (L1) 3
v.
Burton Albion (L1) 3

Port Vale (L2) 4
v.
Sunderland (L1) 3

Aldershot Town (NL) 5
v.
Bradford City (L1) 3

Grimsby Town (L2) 4
v.
Milton Keynes Dons (L2) 4

Chorley (NN) 6
v.
Doncaster Rovers (L1) 3

Alfreton Town (NN) 6
v.
Fleetwood Town (L1) 3

Bromley (NL) 5
v.
Peterborough United (L1) 3

Southport (NN) 6
v.
Boreham Wood (NL) 5

Plymouth Argyle (L1) 3
v.
Stevenage (L2) 4

Chesterfield (NL) 5
v.
Billericay Town (NS) 6

Lincoln City (L2) 4
v.
Northampton Town (L2) 4

Barnet (NL) 5
v.
Bristol Rovers (L1) 3

Yeovil Town (L2) 4
v.
Stockport County (NN) 6

Bury (L2) 4
v.
Dover Athletic (NL) 5

Gillingham (L1) 3
v.
Hartlepool United (NL) 5

Oxford United (L1) 3
v.
Forest Green Rovers (L2) 4

Tranmere Rovers (L2) 4
v.
Oxford City (NS) 6

Accrington Stanley (L1) 3
v.
Colchester United (L2) 4

Barnsley (L1) 3
v.
Notts County (L2) 4

Shrewsbury Town (L1) 3
v.
Salford City (NL) 5

Metropolitan Police (SPS) 7
v.
Newport County (L2) 4

Walsall (L1) 3
v.
Coventry City (L1) 3

Rochdale (L1) 3
v.
Gateshead (NL) 5

Hitchin Town (SPC) 7
v.
Solihull Moors (NL) 5

Sutton United (NL) 5
v.
Slough Town (NS) 6

Guiseley (NN) 6
v.
Cambridge United (L2) 4

Exeter City (L2) 4
v.
Blackpool (L1) 3

Luton Town (L1) 3
v.
Wycombe Wanderers (L1) 3

Morecambe (L2) 4
v.
FC Halifax Town (NL) 5

Crewe Alexandra (L2) 4
v.
Carlisle United (L2) 4

Southend United (L1) 3
v.
Crawley Town (L2) 4

Maidenhead United (NL) 5
v.
Portsmouth (L1) 3

Weston-super-Mare (NS) 6
v.
Wrexham (NL) 5

These ties will take place on the weekend of Saturday 10th November.

Non League Teams demise

There are many reason that non league teams disappear.

Have a listen to some of the problems in this video:

Dead Clubs

Third Qualifying Round F.A.Cup Highlights

Here are the highlights that I have managed to find:

Workington 2 Kidsgrove 0

Stockport 3 Corby 0

Kettering 4 Hednesford 0

Brackley 2 Marine 3

Peterborough Sports 0 Chorley 3

Altrincham 4 Bradford Park Avenue 2

Dunston UTS 4 Chester 3

Stourbridge 3 Kidderminster Harriers 2

FC United 1 Witton Albion 2

The next one is a first for me. You can watch the entire match apparently.

Cleethorpes Town 2 Guiseley 2

and not only that but you can watch the entire replay. Well done whoever produced this footage (MPVideo).

Guiseley 2 Cleethorpes Town 1

So, if you have missed reading my blog for the last three hours ... back to the highlights:

St Neots Town v. Coalville Town First Half
St. Neots Town v. Coalvills Town Second Half
Coalville Town v. St. Neots Town Replay

Kings Lynn Town 0 Ashton United 1

Curzon Ashton 1 Southport 2

Gainsborough 1 Blyth Spartans 2

Another first on this blog. I have found four versions of the next match.

York 3 St Ives
York 3 St Ives 0
York 3 St Ives 0
York 3 St Ives 0

Having survived that yorker we continue ...

Warrington 2 Telford United 1

Tiverton Town 3 Metropolitan Police 3

Haringey Borough 2 AFC Sudbury 1

For the next tie we have found both matches.

Gloucester City 3 Dorking Wanderers 3

and the replay

Dorking Wanderers 0 Gloucester City 3

There are three versions of the next match. Eastbourne Borough 4 Dulwich Hamlet 3.

The 3 minute version
The 12 minute version
The 15 minute version

Searching goes on

Woking 3 Kempston Rovers 2

I am always happy when a town beats a city. Maybe that is why I look out for Dulwich Hamlet.

Taunton Town 5 St Albans City 2

Now, for those who like a one sided match and a goalfest. Here is a beauty.

Billericay Town 9 Whitehawk 1

Hereford 0 Welling United 2

Hemel Hempstead Town 5 Ramsgate 0

Now for a favourite team of mine, Worthing.

Moneyfields 2 Worthing 3

Here is one of the goals from the next match.

Bath City 3 Lewes 0

Bath City are the next opponents for my level 6 pick Weston-super-Mare.

Slough Town 2 Bristol Manor Farm 2

Hampton & Richmond Borough 1 AFC Hornchurch 0

Chippenham Town 4 Hendon 1

For the next match I am showing the replay only.

Poole Town 2 Horsham 1

Oxford City 4 Dartford 1

And that concludes the highlights that I have been able to find without digging.

Heart to heart

It takes a lot of discipline to blog every single day. That aint gonna happen.

I took a break and wondered whether blogging achieves anything. Then I remembered that if you influence just one person you may be that butterfly that flapped a wing that after many multiplications turned into a gale on the other side of the world.

My enthusiasm for Arsenal was renewed with the 5-1 win away at Fulham. It is funny how a big win can make a huge difference to a football fan. At the time it took us into 3rd place ahead of Tottenham, always a good thing. Unai Emery has a very difficult task building a defence from nothing as Arsene Wenger only ever cared about his creative players. I saw him take off defenders when there were obvious defensive problems and put on two forwards with the intent to score more than we were going to concede. It was a short term plan that allowed the defence to deteriorate year on year. We have good defensive midfielders now but they have to be allowed to defend.

In the Championship I am worried that the Brentford journey may be over. Dean Smith has elected to abandon the safety of Brentford for the thrills of Aston Villa and he may have arrived at the right time as Doug Ellis has just departed this world. I can see the ghost of Doug Ellis hanging on to watch a few more matches before he moves on. Dean worked wonders at Brentford but we still have Neal Maupay and the rest of the team including Alan Judge who formed a great partnership a season or two back. I must check my blog back to find out who that was.

When I look at the scores on Saturday I am so glad Arsenal produced that outstanding away performance on Sunday. Brentford were leading Leeds 1-0 but threw away the lead and drew 1-1. Southend United drew 0-0 at home to Oxford United. What a game that must have been. Exeter City drew 2-2 away to Yeovil Town. Four goals but I always find draws unsatisfactory. Sometimes I would rather lose and get angry and frustrated rather than suffer the "Meh" of a draw. Three draws from my Football League teams and I am falling asleep.

Eastleigh did me proud in the National League. This is the first season that I have followed this particular team as my choice last year, Torquay, were relegated to the National League South. I kept Weston-super-Mare as my choice at that level as I love the online presence including the teams running out before each match. Eastleigh travelled to Braintree Town and got a 2-1 win in my home county of Essex. SO, I am happy with a win for my number 1 and number 5 selections.

Weston-super-Mare, my number 6 selection played at home in the F.A.Cup and beat Coggeshall Town 1-0. This was expected and now we have to face Bath City in the fourth qualifying round. Bath City are in our league so this should be an even contest but we are at home. Maybe that match should be my introduction to the ground.

Tiverton Town, my number 7 selection were also in the F.A.Cup and drew 3-3 at home to Metropolitan Police. The replay saw the Police win 1-0 so that is the end of the Tiverton run in the F.A.Cup. "We can concentrate on the league now".

Barnstaple seem to be on a collision course with the Western League as they lost yet again at home, this time to Larkhall Athletic. This season is probably not the best one to make my maiden appearance on the terraces at the far north of my county.

Buckland Athletic, my number 9 pick, gained an away win, 3-1 at Clevedon Town. This puts us firmly mid table and likely to remain in this league for another season.

Finally, my number 10 selection, Exmouth Town, produced a comfortable 5-0 win at home to Ivybridge Town. We are now in 6th place in the league and could push for promotion by continuing to play well.

My number 11 selection, Elmore Eagles, not part of this blog, are top of the table in the South West Peninsula League Division One East. They should arrive in this blog next season and then I will have to choose between Exmouth and Elmore.

Right, I now have to watch Croatia against England in an empty stadium on TV.

F.A.Cup Highlights

The F.A.Cup Second Qualifying Round took place on Saturday.

I have decided to hunt for highlights if there are any, and I will add to this post as I find more.

Slough Town 2 Sholing 2

Banbury 0 Bath 2

Poole Town 3 Cinderford 0

And a different perspective with close-up goalmouth action.

Poole Town v. Cinderford

I am not sure there ARE any highlights in a scoreless draw but judge for yourself.

Hereford 0 Truro 0

Gloucester seem to post up individual goals so here are three clips.

One of Gloucester's three goals against Plymouth Parkway

The second and probably best of the three goals.

The third of the three goals showing that they are in the wrong order.

The next match demonstrates that a city should beat a town. Size matters.

Merthyr Town 1 Winchester City 4

Horsham 4 Heybridge Swifts 3

Hayes & Yeading United 0 Moneyfields 1

AFC Uckfield Town 1 Dartford 3

The Hornchurch v. Grinstead match is another one separated into the individual goals but at least the are linked. You need to watch all three videos.

AFC Hornchurch 2 East Grinstead Town 1

I am confident that the date attached to the following video is inaccurate.

Bognor Regis Town 1 AFC Sudbury 1

Billericay 4 Burnham 1

The next club claims to be a preliminary round tie but we are past that and we are into the qualifying rounds.

Haringey Borough 2 Erith Town 0

Now for a team I have watched a few times. Worthing won away at Chelmsford.

Chelmsford 1 Worthing 2

Egham Town 3 Brighlingsea Regent 3

Woking 4 Tooting & Mitcham 0

Welling United 2 Chesham United 1

Wealdstone 2 Great Wakering Rovers 0

The next clip is a video log. We get what we can.

(VLOG) Hampton & Richmond Borough 3 Burgess Hill Town 0

Something different now with still images from the match.

AFC Telford United 3 Bedford Town 1

Kings Lynn Town 3 Stafford Rangers 1

Halesowen Town 0 Gainsborough Trinity 3

Kettering Town 2 AFC Mansfield 1

Alvechurch 1 Corby Town 4

At this point my Mrs accosted me and told me that we are going out for the afternoon. I saw that there are more matches to come and links will continue once I return from our travels.

So a short trip to the seaside where we consumed fish and chips closely watched by the resident seagulls then a visit to the place that makes the best scones in Devon. We bought several bags for freezing and two ready made cream teas.

Back to searching ...

Nuneaton Town 1 Brackley Town 1

St Neots Town 4 Romulus 3

Rugby Town 1 Hednesford Town 3

Boston United 0 Peterborough Sports 2

Altrincham 5 Whitley Bay 0

Witton Albion 2 Spennymoor Town 1

Darlington 0 Bradford Park Avenue 1

This next one shows how difficult it is to find what you want sometimes. Using the seach criteria of Nantwich and Blyth the video did not appear on page one but by adding the score it magically appeared at the top of page one.

Nantwich Town 3 Blyth Spartans 3

FC United of Manchester 2 Colne 0

Dunston UTS 2 Irlam 1

Marine 1 Frickley Athletic 0

York City 5 Ashton Athletic 0

Knaresborough Town 1 Workington 4

South Shields 1 Stockport County 2

Staveley against Guiseley is in the form of a goal by goal appreciation:

Goal One
Goal Two
Goal Three

Farsley Celtic 0 Southport 3

Radcliffe Borough 1 Curzon Ashton 2

And finhally ... altough more will appear in the coming days.

Chester 4 City of Liverpool 0

Two more qualifying rounds to go before the public are presented with the First Round of the F.A.Cup.

Weekend of 22nd/23rd September

I despise SKY TV. I always have and I used to blame Rupert Murdoch but I think I have to change focus now as I have heard that Comcast have taken ownership from the destroyer of free media. I understand the need to keep highlights from the public on the day of the match until the advertisers have had their moment with people watching the first transmission of events. What I cannot stand is SKY organising the removal of their content from YouTube days after the event. Consequently we have an alternative highlights of the Arsenal match.

Arsenal 2 Everton 0

Brentford suffered a rare setback to recent progress on Saturday.

Derby 3 Brentford 1

Southend managed to end a bad run of results.

Southend 1 Fleetwood 0

Exeter have secured second place in League Two closely behind Lincoln City.

Exeter 3 Cheltenham 1

Eastleigh continue to be covered by a VLOG as I cannot find an official highlights site.

Eastleigh 1 Dagenham & Redbridge 0

Wynter scored the winner as wintry conditions rule the day.

Exeter youth talk about the Tiverton v. Dorchester F.A.Cup match.

Tiverton 2 Dorchester 0

There are no highlights of the Barnstaple 1 Slimbridge 2 match that leaves Barnstaple firmly at the foot of the table.

I cannot find any video of the Cribbs 2 Buckland Athletic 3 match either but it will send Buckland up the table a few slots.

You have already heard about Exmouth who were playing Elmore in my previous post.

Elmore 4 Exmouth 2

We turned up at the allotted start time of 15:00 only to find the match in full flow. Based on the end of the first half we guess the match started around 14:45. The rain was falling steadily as we made our way round to the stand. I grabbed a program that we were told was free and after looking at it I think you could almost say it is over-priced. We then settled and my wife took a few photos that I may include when I see what came out. We had missed the opening goal by Exmouth but watched as they scored for a second time to open a two goal lead over Elmore.

I have a soft spot for Elmore as they were the first team I looked at years ago when I started hunting for level 10 clubs. There were a few crunching tackles as players slid in on the wet turf but I saw no vicious intent until some great skill was brought to the show. The Elmore number three went on a run and 'rabona'd past one then used the same trick to get passed the second challenge. Another back foot flick around his forward leg took him past the third man. The Exmouth skipper clearly was not going to let him do it a fourth time and cynically brought the young talent to the floor.

It has to be said that British football has not changed one bit. As soon as anybody demonstrates skill or talent the 'footballers' determine that it has to be chopped down and kicked off the park. While I acknowledge that football is a contact sport I am not surprised that most of the talent these days comes from foreign climes where talent is encouraged and allowed to progress.

The anger that ensued as the young man was treated for what looked like a serious injury proved difficult for the female referee to control but she wisely took her time and got the players to calm down before quite rightly sending off the Exmouth number six. This proved to be pivotal in terms of the match as Elmore started to control the game from this point onwards. The Exmouth players seemed more intent on allocating blame to each other rather than competing for a win.

There was a loud cheer around me as Elmore scored to cut the margin in half. Some more hard tackles and tough challenges followed including one marvelous scuffle battle resulting in a wrestling match on the ground with some afters as the two players rose. The temperature here was hot and I am not surprised as Elmore are top of the Eastern division of the South West Peninsula League and expect to be promoted to the Premier division where Exmouth play so this was a good test of their readiness. ... They passed.

The second goal went in and with the scores level the momentum seemed to be with Elmore who had eleven players taking on the ten remaining players of Exmouth town. Substitutions started happening on a regular basis and as time rolled on I started to worry about my Mrs who is not a great fan of extra time. "You said it would be finished by ...". The talk turned to extra time as this was a South West Peninsula League Cup match. I relaxed a bit as Elmore took a 3-2 lead but this was the trigger either for Elmore to sit back or for Exmouth to strike out as the action switched ends and Exmouth pushed for THEIR equaliser.

The wet conditions made it difficult for the players and the referee had to book several more players to keep the lid on the bottle. Elmore got a series of corners that should have sealed the deal and a few free kicks where they fed the ball into the penalty area. Exmouth continued attacking but only made a couple of half chances. I was finally able to stop worrying about my Mrs when Elmore killed the match off with a fourth goal.

I am glad I made the effort to get to the match on a cold wet afternoon. This is after all typical of weather in the football season. The crowd was much larger than the last time I was here in Tiverton. That time the crowd of 23 was outnumbered by the people on the pitch (two teams of eleven and three officials) but winning teams always attract larger crowds than losing ones so to win is important if you want to raise crowd numbers.

My level 11 pick just beat my level 10 pick.

Football this week

Arsenal started their Europa Cup campaign this week.

Arsenal 4 Vorksla Poltava 2

This seems to be the same old Arsenal with strong attacking skills but clear weaknesses in defence.

Brentford travelled to Ipswich Town in the week that Kevin Beattie went over to the other side.

Ipswich 1 Brentford 1

Neal Maupay is making a name for himself and I heard this week that he is the top scorer in all four leagues.

There appears to be no video of the Eastleigh match but it might be the wisest thing not to publicise the result of the Hampshire Senior Cup match against AFC Bournemouth. The match ended in an 8-1 defeat. Premier League v. National League seems to be no contest and I am not surprised as the experts are now saying that the Premier League is the best in the world.

This weekend my level 10 and 11 selections are taking each other on in the South West Peninsula League Cup. I intend to go but I still have the last vestiges of flu and it is a cold wet day here in Devon. Elmore v. Exmouth could be my match of the day.

Buckland are away to Cribbs and this could be interesting as the new manager makes his changes.

Barnstaple are at home to Slimbridge and they do need to start putting some points on the board.

Tiverton are at home to Dorchester Town in the F.A.Cup and that could have been a good match to watch.

Weston-super-Mare have no fixture according to my list but my list may have been overtaken with a last minute fixture.

Eastleigh are at home to Dagenham & Redbridge so I hope they produce a good performance and get the result they need.

Exeter are at home to Cheltenham Town.

Southend are at home to Fleetwood Town.

Brentford are away to Derby County and I expect that to be a good test but Brentford are performing well.

Arsenal are at home to Everton and it is a fixture I have been able to watch a few times over the years as it one that Red Members (the lowest of the low) are allowed to get tickets for. Everton usually park the bus and wait for Arsenal to break them down which happens most of the time. This fixture is the one where Robin van Persie took the ball over his right shoulder and volleyeed the ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net with his left foot. As I remember it was the only highlight in a really dull match.

It was so good I think we should all watch it again.

Robin van Persie

Level Eleven

As my regular reader knows my choice at Level 11 was Elmore.

I visited Elmore Eagles many years ago but I have not found the "Eagles" attachment in any of the recent reports. The old team combusted and dropped out of their league with the second team becoming the first team. They had switched from the Western League to the South West Peninsula League but it did not work out for them.

I see that the second team has risen through the ranks since it became the first team. This is something that you would expect and it has happened to many clubs through history. This season the team have reached the South West Peninsula League Division One East which is at Level 11 and Step 7 which entitles the team to enter the F.A.Vase. I think this is subject to ground grading.

I just looked at the results for this team which can be found here:

Elmore Fixtures and Results

This is very good going so I imagined Elmore sitting top of the league and I was not wrong.

South West Peninsula League Division One East

These boys have got to be worth a look. I notice that Daniel Tapp is still playing and he stood out years back. He must have a few good players around him to make the progress that has been made so I will look out for an opportunity to watch this side before too long.

Great going Elmore. Next season you should be back where you were years ago and then you need to improve to move on.

Six to Ten

Weston-super-Mare in the National League South have been losing on a regular basis so have their fortunes turned around or are the poor performances continuing?

(VLOG) Hampton & Richmond 3 Weston-super-Mare 1

That did not go well for the lads and they followed it up with another defeat. I cannot find any video highlights but Weston lost 2-1 at home to Hemel Hempstead.

In the Southern League Premier Division South Tiverton Town have been having a good season so far but has it continued?

In the F.A.Cup Tiverton managed to beat Bridport 1-0 so they are through to the next round which takes place at the weekend. They have been drawn at home against Dorchester Town. I might go to that one.

I have already blogged about the 2-2 draw with Exeter City in the Devon St. Lukes Bowl. Exeter won that match on penalties but it is a good result against a club at a higher level.

(VLOG) Kings Langley 2 Tiverton Town 2

The team are still putting in strong performances and the team now lie in third place on goal difference but the top six teams are ALL on 14 points. One win COULD see Tiverton top.

Barnstaple Town are having a terrible season and they currently lie bottom of Division One South with ZERO points. There is no point in "seeing how they are doing" as ZERO points tell the story. Where have the side been defeated though?

Losing 3-0 at home to Blackfield & Langley is not a good result. I think this team needs more support. They followed this with defeat away to Thatcham Town but in a better performance they only lost 3-2.

We need some signs of improvement here but in football that usually requires a sacking or two and some new blood.

Buckland Athletic travelled away to Binfield in the F.A.Cup and lost 3-0 so that is the end of one adventure. "We can concentrate on the league now".

In the most recent league match Buckland were at home to Newquay. The home team lost 1-0. Two defeats on the trot although one was in the cup. I heard that they have sacked their manager. I cannot find any highlights of Buckland but that may be because there aren't any.

Finally at level 10 Exmouth Town are in the South West Peninsula League Premier Division.

Exmouth Town welcomed Newquay to Southern Road and sent them packing with a 4-0 defeat and followed this up four days later with a 4-1 thrashing of Saltash United. It seems that the league matches are going well and I see from the table that Exmouth are now in sixth place on 16 points with a game in hand over the teams above them.

Exmouth returned to the F.A.Vase last week and they have memories of reaching the semi-final.

Exmouth 3 Bridgwater 0

A good way to end this particular entry. Ace High seems to be quite the footballer.

The Top Five

So what has been happening while I was coughing and sneezing?

England lost 2-1 to Spain to give us an indication where we stand in the league of nations. Arsenal gave Newcastle a lesson in being clinical then allowed a last minute goal just to ensure that Unai Emery is aware that our defence is a long way from safe. I am sure there must be some highlights somewhere ...

Newcastle 1 Arsenal 2

Xhaka, who has a bad habit of giving away the ball in his own half scores with a very well taken free kick. When Lacazette gets off his shot Mesut Ozil is in the right place to slot the ball into the net for Arsenal's second. We then get through to 90 minutes with the score at 2-0 only for Newcastle to score in injury time. Naive boys are the ones who stop at the ninety minute mark.

The Europa League starts on Thursday against Vorksla Poltava. I often try translation on Google translate and I know that Poltava is the city so what does Vorksla mean. Apparently it means Vortex. We are up against the Vortex from Poltava.

My Championship team is Brentford who have beaten Wigan Athletic and drawn with Ipswich Town since I last blogged.

Brentford 2 Wigan 0

Ipswich 1 Brentford 1

Southend United first took on Cambridge United in the Checkatrade Trophy.

Southend 3 Cambridge 1

Next they took on Peterborough United in the league.

Southend 2 Peterborough 3

Finally Southend travelled all the way across the country to Shrewsbury. I think that travelling was a problem.

Shrewsbury 2 Southend 0

Exeter City have competed three times since I last blogged. Firstly they took on Yeovil in the Checkatrade Trophy.

Yeovil 0 Exeter 0

I think we are missing some of the penalties there. Next came a good win over Notts County.

Exeter 5 Notts County 1

I always enjoy the sight of somebody who is not on being sent off. Finally a trip away to Mansfield.

Mansfield 1 Exeter 2

A great opening goal from Dean Moxey. I identified him as a class above the rest of the team a few years back and he has now played at a higher level but he is back where he began and that shows me how difficult this game can be.

In the National League Eastleigh have competed three times as well. Initially they lost to Maidenhead United.

(VLOG) Maidenhead United 2 Eastleigh 0

The middle match was a home fixture with the visitors being AFC Fylde.

Eastleigh 0 AFC Fylde 0

Finally, to complete the top five leagues Eastleigh from the South Coast travelled all the way to Hartlepool.

Hartlepool 1 Eastleigh 1

The Non League Football Show

Episode Four

Episode Five

Episode Six

Episode Seven

Episode Eight

Influenza

Influenza. You have to love the headaches, the coughing that will not clear, the muscle spasms that make your bones shake, and the strange way that days pass without achieving anything. Brief periods of normality following a lemsip or a bath are followed by long periods of sleep or blankly watching TV. The pain was a stark reminder of my days playing football as shin struck shin or knee struck knee. Some days it is good to feel alive and it makes a change from the "comfortably numb" feelings of adulthood. I have seen some serious injuries in my time but my own worst moment was taking a piledriver in the nuts, crawling off the pitch and projectile vomitting 2 minutes later. Maybe I was just lucky.

Footballers can get serious injuries at various stages in their careers and it often changes the way their lives pan out. Most recover but it is very rare that the level they were at is achieved again. An injury can restrict the ability of any player to produce their best so it is fascinating to watch some fantastic skills in the lower reaches of the ten tier system and wonder what level those individuals achieved before finding a safe haven later on in their careers.

I noticed that two matches were postponed last weekend due to "insufficient players". I guess that the flu hit two of the four teams involved and the F.A. sanctioned a postponement as a result. Plenty of other fixtures were completed and life goes on but to me it looks like clubs are running with smaller squads to save on costs.

And the heavy headedness returns ....

Saint Lukes Cup

While I was having a blog break two of my teams met in a competition called the Devon St. Luke's Challenge Cup.

Tiverton v. Exeter

A couple of good goals there I think you will agree.

We now know what needs a bit more practice.

F.A.Vase Football

I hope you enjoy the highlights from a one sided match.

Two teams from that mysterious Hellenic League region.

Shrivenham walk around Tytherington Rocks

I think that the trees move faster.

End of August

Well it is actually early September but here are a few leaders and strugglers:

In the National League Wrexham are leading with 17 points while Dagenham & Redbridge are at the foot of the table with 2 points.

In the National League North Chorley have a clear lead with 22 points gained after 8 matches. FC United of Manchester may have reached their level as they are firmly last with a paltry 3 points.

The lead in the National League South is greater with Woking on 21 points, 5 ahead of Billericay Town. At the bottom are one of my selections. They seem to struggle every year but this season they are last with 2 points. Can they stay at this level for another year?

At Step 3 Level 7 we have an extra division this season. The Southern League Premier Division has been divided into the Southern League Premier Central and the Southern League Premier South. This will be confusing for many as there can no longer be a winner of the Southern League unless they are planning a winner v. winner match at the end of the season.

Weymouth are top of the Premier South on 13 points, the same as Tiverton Town (one of mine) and Merthyr Town. Chesham United sit at the bottom on a single point. The Premier Central division is led by Kettering Town on 18 points, 5 ahead of Coalville Town, while Bedworth Town have only 2 points at the foot of the table.

I believe the intention of the F.A. is to link the Southern Central division with the National League North and link the Southern South division with the National League South but it will be very interesting to see how things play out at the end of this season.

The Northern Premier League is led by Gainsborough Trinity on 12 points with Lancaster City on ZERO at the bottom of the table.

Tonbridge Angels are the leaders in the Isthmian League ahead of Worthing by 3 points. Burgess Hill Town and Corinthian Casuals are at the foot of the table on 2 points apiece.

There is also an additional division at Step 4 Level 8. The Isthmian League now has three feeders but to be fair it has needed them for a while now. In the North division Maldon & Tiptree lead the way with 10 points. Soham Town Rangers and Tilbury are joint last with 1. The South Central division is led by Bracknell Town on 12 points. Molesey sit at the bottom also with 1 point. The Isthmian League South East division is where the F.A. have chosen to place Guernsey. I know there is a flight involved but is Kent the right place for the islanders to play? Hastings United and Cray Wanderers lead the table on 12 points with a goal difference of 9 but there are two other teams also on 12 points. Three clubs are on ZERO at the bottom but goal difference finds Three Bridges and East Grinstead Town in the most trouble.

The Northern Premier League has decided to change to an East / West split which is a change from its previous North / South split. I would like to read about how well this is working but I have not heard anything to date. Stamford are top of the East division on 10 points with Pickering Town at the foot of the table on ZERO. In the West division Radcliffe are top on 12 points alongside Colne and at the foot of the table is Skelmersdale United on ZERO.

When I first read about the Southern League reorganisation the division one level was supposed to be an East / West split and it still is but it is more like North East / South West so I think those that have ascribed the South One Central and South One South are doing the right thing in naming the leagues. Sometimes I think codenames like Bostik or Evostick would help but we would need a lot more sponsors willing to put money into the game.

Peterborough Sports are sitting top of the Southern League Division One Central and emulating their League One counterparts. At the bottom are Kidlington who come from that mysterious Hellenic League with the is it, is it not, division two east and west. In the Southern League Division One South Yate Town and Winchester City lead the way with Mangotsfield United and Barnstaple Town (another of MY picks) at the bottom on ZERO points.

Below this at Step 5 Level 9 we have until this season had a consistent 14 leagues with 17 leagues at Step 6 Level 10. The F.A. have seen fit to interfere here as well but that will be the subject of my next post.

The Exmouth Program

What I learned from the Exmouth program:

This season 638 clubs have been accepted into the F.A.Vase. That means that Exmouth only need to perform better than the other 637 to win the thing. Now I have a spreadsheet so I thought I would check the total. I looked at the first round qualifying and 218 matches mean that 436 teams enter at this stage. It was at this point I remembered that other teams join the competition at various stages and I now work this out each season as it varies slightly.

156 teams join the competition in the second qualifying round bringing the total up to 592 clubs. Now the notes I have got state that 23 clubs finishing 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th in their leagues enter the competition in the First Round proper whilst 23 clubs that reached the Fourth Round last season are brought in at the ROUND TWO stage. This does bring the total to 638 clubs but manages to leave only 64 qualified at the end of Round Two.

Exmouth Town Football Club was formed in 1933, playing their home games on the Maer Cricket Field. They moved to their current home at Southern Road in 1964. I remember my old cricket club talking about forming a football team to keep us active in the winter but nothing ever happened.

After many successful seasons in the Devon & Exeter League they joined the Western League in 1973. They were promoted to the Premier Division after finishing Runners-Up of Division One in 1981-82 ans won the Premier Division in 1983-84 and again in 1985-86. These must have been the heady days of success.

In 1984-85 they reached the Semi-Final of the F.A.Vase narrowly losing to Fleetwood Town (and look where they are now) by the odd goal over the two games. During this period the Club installed floodlights and hosted many matches against Football League sides. On 28th July 1987 they recorded their highest home attendance of 2,395 for a match against Liverpool.

The success of the Eighties was not repeated during the nineties and the club was relegated after the 1993-94 season. They gained promotion back to the Premier Division for the 2003-04 season but had to withdraw from the Western League during 2005.

On 1st August 2006 the Club reformed as Exmouth Town (2006) AFC playing in the Devon & Exeter League. At the end of the season they were promoted into Division One East of the newly formed South West Peninsula League, a step 7 league in the National Pyramid System. The Club won the East Division in the 2012-13 season losing only one league game. Having achieved promotion to the Premier Division the side finished as Runners-Up in the 2013-14 season.

Finishing positions since then have been 8th in 2014-15, 12th in 2015-16 and 5th in 2016-17. This last season on the history page saw them in the final of the League Cup, the final of the St Lukes Bowl (a Devon competition) and the last sixteen of the F.A.Vase.

I shall now update the history by checking my spreadsheets:

In 2017-18 Exmouth Town finished 15th in the league, lost to Shaftesbury in the Extra Qualifying Round of the F.A.Cup, and lost to Blackfield & Langley in the Second Round of the F.A.Vase. They had gone straight through to the Second Round by virtue of doing so well the previous season. It has to be said that last season was not a good one for the club.

AND NOW ..... ITS ..... Those match reports from the program that I promised you.

Exmouth Town 4 Torpoint Athletic 0

Town started their home league campaign in style with a convincing victory over the previously unbeaten visitors. The match was decided in an eight minute spell in the first half when Ace High scored a sublime hat trick. There had been little to choose between the sides until the twenty eighth minute when the keeper failed to hold a Karl Rickard shot and High reacted quickest to slam home the loose ball. Two minutes later a surging run and pass from Jimmy Hinds found High to race clear and score. The third goal on 36 minutes was arguably the best as this time Aarron Denny a forceful run and his pass to High saw Town's leading goal scorer calmly chip the stranded gloveman. The scoring was completed in the second half when Dan Boere deceived the defence with a drag back and scored into an empty net.

Callington Town 0 Exmouth Town 2

This was a game that Town should have won comfortably and by a bigger scoreline.The home side had their keeper sent off after forty minutes for bringing down Aarron Denny and preventing a clear goal scoring opportunity but despite numerous chances the goals did not arrive until the closing minutes. Whilst the woodwork took a battering it took a debut goal from Chris Ibbeson to break the deadlock scoring from close range following a corner in the 87th minute. Three minutes later the win was secure as Ace High chased down a ball that looked to be going out of play, cut inside, then hammered home a twenty five yard shot giving the keeper no chance and taking his goal tally for the season to six.

Ivybridge 1 Exmouth Town 1

It took Town a quarter of an hour to settle into this game then they dominated for long periods but were unable to find the back of the net. Chances came but a combination of good defending and lack of composure in front of goal kept the scoreline goalless. The opening goal came on 55 minutes when a Karl Rickard shot was blocked and fell kindly for Nathan Cooper to score. The equalised arrived with six minutes remaining when a speculative shot from twenty five yards found the top corner.

I did notice the Town bias in the reports. The Ivybridge 25 yarder was a speculative shot whilst the 25 yarder from Ace High gave the keeper "No Chance". I do realise now that I have to go back and follow the career of Ace High with keen interest. Am I watching a future star or just somebody playing below his true level?

Biggest Stadiums in Non League

Who has the biggest stadium in non league football?

This chap tells us.

Biggest Stadiums in Non League Football

The Pyramid for simpletons

This is a reasonable attempt to explain the pyramid.

Keep in mind though that this all changed this season with the introduction of another league at step 3 and another at step 4.

The F.A. Officials due to their rigid simple nature want to enforce a 1-2-4-8 scenario. Whilst this would simplify things if the country was equally divided with an equal number of teams in each division it will never work in practice. There will always be teams being transferred between leagues at the same level.

Enjoy the video though as it will give you a good start to your understanding.

The Non League Pyramid

I have tracked the pyramid down to level 11 (step 7) and beyond so get in touch if you want to learn more.

Weekend Results

From the top then:

Arsenal were away to Cardiff at 13:30 on Sunday.

Arsenal took the lead during a part of the match where they were in control. Cardiff equalised. Arsenal took the lead again when Aubameyang pounced on a flick from my man of the match Lacazette. Cardiff equalised once again. This was a match where there was divided opinion. Either Arsenal would win or it would be a draw. The truth is that either of these was a possibility. The goal that won the match was a classic strikers goal as Alexander Lacazette turned to strike the ball into the top corner of the net nearside. He seemed happy with that effort and who can blame him? Arsenal are now up and running following those two early defeats. Two wins on the trot have us racing up the table into 9th place. Still above Manchester United. I think Unai Emery has achieved the same as Wenger so far. We can beat all the other teams in the league but we struggle against the top teams. That is the area he has to fix. Mind you, that is the area every manager has to fix and it seems to me that Rafa Benitez is doing the best in that regard.

Brentford beat Nottingham Forest 2-1.

Highlights

Southend lost 2-1 to Charlton Athletic.

Highlights

Exeter lost 3-0 to Lincoln City.

Highlights

Eastleigh lost 4-0 to Harrogate Town.

We are back to the VLOG for Eastleigh

Weston lost 1-0 to Eastbourne Borough but I cannot find any highlights at this point in time.

Tiverton Town beat Beaconsfield 2-0 and although I cannot find a video there are some photographs.

The Photos

Another match I did consider going to was Barnstaple Town but they lost 3-1 to Highworth Town.

Willand Rovers beat Buckland Athletic 1-0 so there is another defeat for one of my teams.

You already know about Exmouth Town from my previous post so that concludes the weekend results.

F.A.Vase = Exmouth v. Callington

So I am in my car with little spare time to get to Exmouth if I want to see the kick off. The usual traffic hotspots slow me down. Topsham Road, Topsham and then join the procession down the single lane road from Darts Farm to Exmouth. I decided to use the main car park and found that the charges are in small print on the machines themselves and not on the noticeboards like most places. In discussion with another man we found them and I selected £3 for 4 hours. Changing from driving shoes to walking boots I set off on the 5 minute walk to the ground.

When I got to the gate there was a smiling face who charged me £5 for entrance and £1.50 for a program. These I would say are good value for what you get. The program is limited but good quality and as I arrived so late I did not get a chance to read it until half time.

The teams kicked off and Exmouth scored within the first couple of minutes as the Callington keeper let the ball through his legs. I commented "Wembley guaranteed then" which got a laugh and then the match settled down. The trains passing the ground in the background was a slight distraction and the ball was replaced a number of times as the high and wide shooting saw the trees and bushes swallow the shots. Exmouth demonstrated good passing ability and controlled the match for the most part. My attention was drawn to a couple of Callington defenders. One an experienced ginger hard man in the mould of Paul Scholes and outside him a young blonde defender still learning his craft. As the match went on the youngster showed better talent in seeing the ball safely out as he swerved left and right as if he was going to turn. The ginger defender was less agile and when he tried to block by standing in the way he was grabbed by the neck and thrown to the ground by the Exmouth striker. The booking was justified but I was reminded how partisan fans can be as the locals gave the referee a lot of stick for that decision.

I checked the ground as I have a little interest in how grounds are set up. The pitch is surrounded by a breeze block wall four blocks high with gates and gaps at various points. The kids had a little area of grass where they chose to kick their ball around and it was fascinating to see the girls watching the boys and the boys trying to show off. Oddly (or maybe not so) the biggest cheer from the kids was when the final whistle was blown. They had the freedom to stand when they wanted, sit in the stand when they wanted and change seats, sometimes fighting over who would sit where. The match itself seemed to have no relevance to them.

Half time came with the score at 2-0 and I settled down to read the program. The program informed me that a win in this tie was worth £550 so that was the aim with the additional reward of a tie against Bridgwater Town in the next round. I fully intend to go and watch that second round match and who knows I may be hooked on the F.A.Vase run as long as Exmouth remain in the running. The program also informed me that I was not wrong when I heard that the name of one of the players is "Ace High". I wonder if that name was changed by deed poll or whether his parents had a strange sense of humour.

The fixture list showed that the second team and third team have lost all their matches. Is this one of those clubs that put all their eggs in the first team basket? I saw that the second team had lost 14-0 to a team called Cronies. I am sure that must be the same team that I saw a few years ago in the Devon & Exeter League called Henry's Cronies. I guess Henry has left the club now. I could include the match reports from three previous fixtures but I will probably do that in a separate post. I then had just about enough time to read about the history of the club before the players returned to the pitch for the second half.

The second half was similar to the first half but with less energy. One of my favourite memories was after Callington scored. An exhausted broken zombie body ambled to the centre spot shouting "Pick it up lads". The other equally exhausted broken zombie bodies responded by ambling brokenly in a forward direction. They did pick it up though and the pressure told when Exmouth were awarded a penalty. I am pretty certain that it was Ace High who took it and scored from it.

As the match wore on my attention was diverted to the crowd. A group of five behind one goal, most of the crowd in front of the beer tent, and the odd isolated soul dotted around the perimeter. The stand was mostly empty but it did only lift people about four feet off the ground. The girls started telling the boys about a den in their bedroom. They made it quite clear that the boys would sleep in the boys room though. I did warn the boys about kicking the seats though as they were in danger of kicking just hard enough to break them.

The sun was hot but I had just enough shade in the stand. The fourth goal went in ensuring an Exmouth victory and I knew then I could go home happy. If I had gone to Exeter I would have watched a 3-0 defeat and if I had gone to Weston I would have witnessed a 1-0 defeat. Here I saw my team win although I must have missed something as I went home believing we had won 4-1 but in the F.A.Vase results page the score is listed as 4-2. Oh well, it is still a win and a comfortable one. I look forward to Bridgwater Town.

ExmouthTown

So .... (I only said that because it seems to be the trendy start to any conversation) .... I got the washing up done including my lunchtime dishes and I was just about to start the hoovering when my little kitten charged into the room chasing what seemed to be a very large mouse or a very small rat. They were at top speed as they disappeared under the table. Next thing I know the thing has shot across the room behind the sofa, past the CD rack and under a set of drawers. Coco the kitten was slower this time knowing that the creature was cornered. I began to feel that my aim of attending a live match was over. The main aim was to make sure the place was ready for my wife to return home after work with nothing to do. I have a heart condition so I know how key it is to remain relaxed in stressful situations so I sat back and thought about my options.

Coco sat on guard by the CD rack then came up with her plan. If she jumped onto the sofa with me the creature would not see her and may come running out. She peered round the edge of the sofa for a good few minutes but it was when she gave up that the creature shot back across the room and under the table once again. I then made my plan by opening the door to the hallway and blocking another gap with a cushion. It worked but I was slightly shocked when the creature flew out into the hall. It was a bird that had been scurrying around my lounge. I closed Coco in the lounge and set about encouraging the bird out of the house. It was reluctant to go. Maybe it wanted to play with Coco. First it hid behind the hoover then when I had ensured that the back door was open I used the sucking handle to nudge it in the right direction. It flew the other way (naturally) but with more encouragement eventually it flew through the opening and landed right beside my male cat Tickles (lazy boy) who shot into action and chased it behind the flower pots. A few minutes later it took refuge behind the water butt and I decided to let nature take its course.

After closing the back door I discovered that the play covered all levels of the house (I have three storeys) and there were feathers on every level. The hoovering was now more important than ever and I set about removing the dirt from all levels. By the time that was complete I checked the time and it would be touch and go whether I made the train to Exmouth. The car was in need of a new tank of fuel so I decided to kill two birds (bad joke) with one stone and fill up on my way to Exmouth. I was on my way to a live match and you can read my match report in the next post.

Paul Scholes plays for Royton Town

In a great story for non league football, Premier League legend Paul Scholes turned out for his son's team when they were desperately short of players. Royton Town still lost 1-0 but there is nothing better than playing for those who love the game.

Take your camera when you go to a non league match because you never know.

Saturday Morning - September 1st

Good morning to all you football and pyramid fans.

My Premier League team Arsenal are playing away. I do not know about the personal lives of the players but the team are going to Wales to take on a Cardiff team managed by Neil Warnock. I expect them to be well drilled and pragmatic when it comes to attack. What we really need is an early goal that will mean they have to come at us. If they do I can see us scoring more goals and gaining confidence. Start the match well lads and I see good things coming your way.

Brentford take on Nottingham Forest fresh from their victory over Newcastle United. While I have a favourite memory of Newcastle, that being the time they beat Tottenham Hotspur 5-1 when they were a hairs breadth from finishing above Arsenal, I have no favourite memory of Brentford although I have seen some good footage over the years. I think this makes Brentford a practical team rather than exciting and flambouyant. At this point in the season Brentford are 8th which is a lucky number in China whilst Nottingham Forest are 13th which is unlucky wherever you go. If it is luck that counts we have already won this one.

Southend United are at home to Charlton Athletic. I remember from my time there that this is almost a local derby. It was when I visited Charlton that I was shocked to find how short Brian Moore (TV sports presenter) was when he walked past me to climb into the gantry that had been constructed for the commentators half way up the big bank. Southend are 11th whilst Charlton are 14th and this is close enough for the game to be called an even contest with a slight edge for Southend. I will be very interested in this score.

Exeter City are at home to Lincoln and I still have half a mind to go and watch this one LIVE but value for money is taking a much greater part of my life and my last three trips to Saint James Park have left me feeling short changed so I might look further down the pyramid for a match to watch. Value for money is much greater there.

Eastleigh are away to Harrogate Town and I had a chance to watch Harrogate when they appeared on TV last Monday against AFC Fylde. That match finished 0-0 so I expect Eastleigh to have a problem scoring. Harrogate are 4th in the league with Eastleigh 16th so I am fully expecting a home win and further punishment for Eastleigh. I did find a video that was not a VLOG this week though. Things are on the up.

Weston-super-Mare are offering a deal today. Pay whatever you want with a minimum price of £1. I hope this leads to a large crowd for them as they take on Eastbourne Borough. Eastbourne are 6th in the table while Weston are the strongest team in the league because they are holding up all of the other teams. This match has appeal to me and I may make the effort to drive an hour and a half up the motorway but I would have to overcome the inertia that keeps me on the sofa with my laptop following everything rather than just a single match.

Tiverton Town are away at Beaconsfield Town and having been knocked off the top of the league last week need to return to winning ways to keep their hopes of rising into the "big six" leagues (actually 7 with a North and South version of the sixth tier). Just to make this page a little more interesting I will post a photo from last Monday's match.

Barnstaple Town are at home to Highworth Town and that match is only about an hour away. Another opportunity to overcome inertia but I have to keep the Mrs sweet (she is working today) so unless I get the hoovering and washing up done quickly I will be tied to the house for the afternoon. Highworth Town are 12th in the league with Barnstaple on ZERO points in 19th place only because of goal difference.

The Buckland Athletic website tells me that the next match is away at Ivybridge Town on 18th September. That seems like a long time without football. Buckland currently sit in 16th place but by not having any fixtures they can only go down as other teams gain points. ..... Aha! I just checked and it is F.A.Vase day today. Let me check my spreadsheet. No sign of Buckland there but I have found a fixture listed on the Western League site. According to the Western League Buckland are away at Willand Rovers. I shall see later if that match takes place.

The F.A.Vase spreadsheet informs me that Exmouth Town are at home to Callington Town. I think if I go anywhere this is the one. I can catch the train from my local station and get off at the Exmouth terminus which is a short walk from the ground. Is today the day? I will tell you once the day is over and I am checking the results.