League Allocations (part two)

Yesterday I thought I could blog as I went along because I expected very few changes to the leagues. There were more changes than I had expected although I knew that things would not simply stay the same. Today I discovered some leagues that did remain unchanged and I am very proud of them for showing strength and stability. Well done to .....

The South West Peninsula League

There were changes to this league for the 2019/20 season and the non promotion and relegation will give the league a sense of stability before changes at the end of the 2020/21 season.

The Western League

I found when I moved to Devon that things move more slowly down here. When I was working an urgent problem was given about three weeks as opposed to the one hour that you get in London. This league needs more changes but it will remain unchanged this summer.

The United Counties League

This is the league that I probably know the least about. I recognise some of the names from driving through the area but I cannot remember ever stopping in the east midlands. Peterborough, Leicester, Northampton and Boston kind of define the region but unless someone with enthusiasm for this league gets in touch I am likely to remain ignorant.

The Northern League

I learned a little about this league from a Sunderland supporter who knew of the Wearside League. My family originated in Darlington so we did visit there when I was a young child and I seem to remember Barnard Castle as a good day. Do they have a football team yet? I know that the Northern League were the last to get involved with the football pyramid which is why they win the F.A.Vase every year. It is a shame now that they have agreed to promotion that there is a blip this season when no team will join the Northern Premier League. A strong and stable league without doubt.

The Southern Combination League

I have only checked the Premier Division and Division One but neither of these have changed so I must award this league the "Strong and Stable" award. I may find that division two at level eleven has some changes but I am only working on levels one to ten at the moment. Level 11 will take twice as long to work through as all of the leagues from Level One to Level Ten. That is for another day.

The West Midlands Regional League

Only the Premier Division of this league sits within the top 10 levels and there are no changes so the league qualifies in this list as "strong and stable at the top". I will examine the other divisions at a later date,

Six leagues have no changes in line with the F.A. directive that the season be declared void so there would be no promotion or relegation. I have not seen any promotion or relegation although this might be a good opportunity to get teams that have over performed into gaps that have appeared in the leagues. I also know that if you make an exception for one team you are bound to upset other teams and for the sake of peace it may be better to stick to the rule.

I said that I would start today with the Midland League but I will leave that one till last as the only bit of potential controversy applies to that league.

I could stir up some controversy when we look at the Wessex League but that would be my bias towards football being the best game in the world. Solent University FC will not be competing in the Wessex League Premier Division next season because Solent University themselves have issued a statement saying that they have "other sporting ambitions". I presume that football is no longer important to them when they can put out a quidditch team. Bad call Solent University. Their place will be taken by Blackfield & Langley who voluntarily resigned from the Southern League Premier Division South.

Wessex League Division One is being reduced to 19 teams as Pewsey Vale have resigned to play at a lower level. They will be competing in the Wiltshire League Premier Division next season.

The Spartan South Midlands League has no changes in the Premier Division. Division one sees the addition of Hackney Wick from the Eastern Counties League South Division. The division will be reduced to 18 teams with the loss of both FC Broxbourne Borough and Wodson Park. Neither club will be putting a team out in any of the leagues as far as I can work out.

In the Southern Counties East League there will be no changes in Division One. The Premier Division has lost Greenwich Borough who resigned in January but they will increase to 21 teams with the addition of Tower Hamlets from the Essex Senior League and Balham from the Combined Counties League.

The Northern Counties East League has no change to the Premier Division and the only change in Division One is the addition of Emley who return from the North West Counties North Division.

The North West Counties League itself also has no changes in the Premier Division. In the North Division Emley moving to the Northern Counties East League has left a place for Bury AFC so we have found the ejected league club at last. I trust that they will continue to play at Gigg Lane but they will have to rebuild the club from way down here.

In the South Division of the North West Counties League FC Oswestry Town have folded so we will see no more from them but we should all keep an eye on the new club coming in, FC Isle of Man. We do not know how they will perform but I guess if Guernsey and Jersey are anything to go by they will be competitive.

The East Midlands Counties League is strengthening up to 20 teams with the addition of Ollerton Town from the Northern Counties East League Division One. This league may be involved in the situation I mentioned earlier which is to do with the Midland League.

The Midland League Division One have lost NFK Burbage and are reduced to 19 teams because of this. The news about NFK Burbage is that they will not be competing next season.

The Midland League Premier Division is also reducing to 19 teams with the loss of South Normanton Athletic. The South Normanton website suggests that they will be in the East Midlands Counties League but they are not mentioned in that list so I shall be listening with interest to hear what happens. Do South Normanton have a choice? Have they been stitched up by the F,A,? Do the authorities want teams to be excluded from their league of choice for no good reason? We may learn the truth as time goes on.

I shall now settle down to watch Cardiff v. Fulham.

League Allocations (part one)

I love it when the Non League Newspaper publishes the allocations for the various leagues in the pyramid. This year it should have been very boring as there are supposed to be no changes with the leagues being declared void for the 2019-2020 season.

So everything is as it was is it not? Well no, there are always disputes and legal challenges and clubs who do not want to be where they are placed. As I understand it there are also promises from the F.A. to unhappy clubs that "it will be for one season only" so I expected to see some changes and what have I found for you? .....

Blackfield & Langley took voluntary demotion from the Southern League Premier Division South to the Wessex League. I guess that either all their best players left or the funding from sponsors dried up. That was the highest level drop that I could find. I still do not know where Bury are going to be playing next season but I may find out in the next few minutes.

Balham have disappeared from the Combined Counties League Premier Division. They appear to be in the Southern Counties East League so the transfer for this Croydon based club means that they will spend much more time travelling east and far less time travelling west.

Felixstowe & Walton United Reserves have gone from the Eastern Counties League Division One North. With reserve teams it is not always possible to work out what happened as sometimes they change leagues and sometimes they simply stop operating. I cannot find them anywhere else.
...additional (I have found this team in the Essex & Suffolk Border League Premier Division).

Tower Hamlets have disappeared from the Essex Senior League and they have reappeared in the Southern Counties East League Premier Division alongside Balham.

Brightlingsea Regent Reserves have resigned from the Eastern Counties League Southern Division and I have no information about whether they will be playing next season. If I find them I will try and add an addendum here.

Hackney Wick have also resigned from the Eastern Counties League Southern Division and will be playing in the Spartan South Midlands League Division One in what appears to be a straight swap with Brimsdown.

The Hellenic League which has always seemed to me to be a law unto itself (but maybe just very poorly covered on social media) has lost Brackley Town Saints from the Premier Division, Didcot Town Development and Marlow United from Division One East and New College Swindon from Division One West.

The Saints are the reserve team of Brackley Town and they are now listed as an "Archive" on the website for Brackley Town so I guess they are no more.

The Didcot Town website only mentions one team so I am guessing that the Development team are no more and will not appear next season.

Marlow United have applied for membership of the Thames Valley League and I expect to see them playing there next season. The reason cited was financial difficulties.

The suggestion I found on one website is that New College Swindon FC have folded.

I forgot how much time I spend each summer trying to find out what happens to every team on my spreadsheet. There are thousands of them now.

I will continue this post tomorrow when I carry on with the Midland League.

Television Rules

The reason, I am told, that the Premier League and the English Football League Championship are being played out is that the television companies were going to ask for their money back if they were not able to televise the missing matches. Well, as money talks, those two leagues are now being played to a conclusion with the promise of the play-off matches in the Championship.

All other leagues, where the money comes from gate receipts, have been ended incomplete. There are losses to be made by playing matches where no money is coming in. Any club on a tight budget will have trouble surviving and many will need a loan to see them through the summer to the hope of gate receipts in the autumn. Even then, it will take time to recover and some will struggle.

The first to declare and go into administration are Wigan Athletic. The situation seems to be that the club was sold to a Hong Kong consortium who sold the club on for a profit. The new owner Au Yeung is not interested in funding the club so why did he buy it? Presumably Wigan, and many other football clubs are a good bet if you are asset stripping. Turn the assets into money and run back to Hong Kong where the Chinese government will arrest you and lock you in a prison for the rest of your life if you do not repeat everything that they tell you to say.

Now that football is no longer a sport but a professional business deals of this sort are going to become more common. The EFL approved the deal so what checks were done? Apparently all they do is check that there is enough money in the bank account to complete the deal. No questions are asked about plans for the future and no commitments are garnered from the new owners. It seems that you can buy any EFL club if you have money, the root of all evil.

The Arsenal football club were bought by Stan Kroenke who seemed to want to take money out, not put it in, and that seems to be the case to this day. Mikel Arteta will have to make a team out of the youngsters coming through the system as little or no money will be provided to purchase ready made footballers in the relevant positions. Arsenal had a setback to the recent run of form last night, only drawing with third placed Leicester City.

Eddie Nketiah was sent off for a tackle that glanced a knee and Jamie Vardy was not sent off for kicking Shkodran Mustafi in the head. Obviously a footballer's knees are far more valuable that a footballer's head. I understand that the media and its pundits set the pattern for how the game is run but it was harsh on the young lad who was only showing enthusiasm.

Brentford are on a good run and it is continuing as they came back from being a goal down to Charlton Athletic running out eventual 2-1 winners. They are within two points of West Bromwich Albion although I am watching WBA against Derby County and the Albion are winning 1-0 as I write this. Come on Derby!

My level 3 and 4 selections are now both at level 4 so I will need a new pick in League One. I will also have to drop ... Southend ... I have been away long enough to forget them. I could probably name the team from 40 years ago but not any more.

The only other necessary potential change is in the National League where Weymouth are involved in the Play-offs but only one of the teams involved will be promoted so there may be nothing to do there along with all the other levels where the leagues were declared null and void.

We HAVE now heard about the Non League Play-offs. I will reiterate the point that we should stop calling the National League and below "Non League" because they are all leagues, simply lower leagues and the phrase "Non League" has similar connotations to other words designed to put down people of other cultures or groups.

It all starts on Friday Night (17th July):

Boreham Wood are at home to FC Halifax Town in Eliminator 1.

It continues on Saturday (18th July):

Yeovil Town are at home to Barnet in Eliminator 2. Points per game got Barnet into the playoffs.

Sunday (19th July) sees the National League North and South get involved.

Altrincham take on Chester in Eliminator 1
Brackley Town take on Gateshead in Eliminator 2

Slough Town take on Dartford in Eliminator 1
Bath City take on Dorking Wanderers in Eliminator 2

Saturday 25th July sees all the semi-finals take place.

National League:
Harrogate v. Winner of Eliminator 1
Notts County v. Winner of Eliminator 2

National North:
York City v. Winner of Eliminator 1
Boston United v. Winner of Eliminator 2

National South:
Havant & Waterlooville v. Winners of Eliminator 1
Weymouth v. Winners of Eliminator 2 (Bath City or Dorking Wanderers, I shall keep my eyes on)


The North and South Finals take place on Saturday 1st August alongside the F.A.Cup Final.

The National League Final takes place on Sunday 2nd August.

From 3rd August we will get a chance to focus on the European competitions.

From Winning to Losing

Football IS about the highs and lows as one week you win and the next week you lose. The nature of sport is that for every winner there has to be a loser and in some sports it is many losers to the one winner so acceptance of defeat is an important part of continuing to compete.

Last night I supported my League Two selection, Exeter City, as they took on Northampton Town in the Play Off Final. Exeter finished fifth and Northampton finished seventh so there was a superficial advantage but in the semi-finals Northampton had beaten Cheltenham who finished fourth so they were full of confidence and it became quickly apparent that Exeter were without anything like that.

We were warned by the commentary team that Red and White is a losing colour scheme in the Play Off Finals and Exeter quickly capitulated and showed nothing in terms of effort or inspiration. The whole match was dominated by a competent Northampton side that won everything in the air. Maybe Exeter should recruit people with height if they are to compete in future.

For a short while Exeter played the ball on the ground and started to dominate play but the frustration of a poor performance was played out in an uncontrolled tackle by Dean Moxey on an unfortunate player in black. The red card was deserved because the diving in was from behind and he connected. With 10 men an already poor performance became worse. Exeter showed no signs of fight and readily allowed two late goals to end up 4-0 down.

FALSE CROWD NOISE

After that I decided to look at the AMAZON offering for the last half hour of the match between Crystal Palace and Burnley. I was also playing a computer game and found myself looking up more than I usually do because the crowd noise made the match sound really exciting. Don't get me wrong as it was a determined Crystal Palace that were battering the Burnley goal at the end of the match and one slightly different deflection might have given the Palace an equaliser but the AMAZON crowd noise was louder than other providers and maybe a way to go in future.

NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAY OFFS

Now that the National League has agreed that play-offs can take place and all bar one of the teams has agreed to participate I want to know when the matches will take place. Checking the official website all the play-off dates are in April and May which have now gone. Come on whoever is making decisions on behalf of the league. Publish the dates so we can start looking forward to some real football at a good standard but with friendlier fans than you get at League Clubs.

F.A.CUP SEMI FINALS

So there are no surprises in the final four. The F.A.Cup has picked its traditional sides for the four slots and we have two mouthwatering matches at Wembley.

Chelsea will take on Manchester United, and Arsenal will take on Manchester City.

The matches are scheduled for the weekend of July 18th/19th but I have not yet seen the decision as to which match will take place on which date.

MY BLOG

With all of the lower leagues cancelled in terms of promotion and relegation it looks like I will be picking the same teams for next season. There is no need to change. As we approach the top of the pyramid, however, there may be a couple of selections that I do have to make.

Weymouth are in the playoffs in National League South and whilst the odds are against it if they do gain promotion I will have to choose between them and Torquay for my National League selection. I will always check the internet coverage as it changes season to season. Bath City might be a good choice as it is a lovely city to visit and I could impress the wife with the beauty of the place.
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Another possible choice at National League level is Yeovil Town but Torquay United offered me a friendly welcome when I went to drink at their bar and there was a good win that day so they told me I should return soon which I have not done since then. The parking there did not make me feel comfortable so I wish it was better organised.

League Two will force me to make a decision. Do I keep Exeter City who are staying at Level 4 or choose Southend United who are dropping down from Level 3? I intend not to decide until the season is over but we shall see.

League One could be a problem. Let me look at the options ..... Plymouth Argyle? They are popping up from League Two. Bristol Rovers? They are an established club in League one. Sunderland? A club that have a great history and really need to rise back up to the level that the support demands. Lincoln City? Managed by Danny Cowley who I have had an eye on since his Braintree days.

The Championship should be Brentford who I have grown to love over the last few seasons but who only became my pick because Wojciech Cszsesny (easier to say than to spell, I have to check every time) played there for a short time. Neal Maupay has gone on to Brighton but the team have played very well without him and Olly Watkins has slotted well into the scoring role.

Brentford DO have a chance of promotion, though, so if they get to the Premier League I will be dropping them (keeping a side eye open) as I can never drop Arsenal (well not until we get relegated under the lack of funding of the Kroenkes). Who might take over if Brentford ARE promoted. The choices would be ..... almost certainly Cardiff City, for the same reason as Bath City, as it is a great place to visit with plenty to see and a good social life.

I have plans for next season and I hope I can keep my real life under control as it is far easier to blog when things are going well. Until my next post, keep supporting your local teams.

Return from COVID

Some Bloggers can write whether or not there is something going on but I need the football itself to spur my enthusiasm. I have been "doing other things" during lockdown including a lot of reading, some jigsaw puzzles and reintroducing myself to computer gaming.

Last night I watched Brentford against West Bromwich Albion and felt that the quality was high enough to be a Premier League match. As both clubs have aspirations to play at that level I am not overly surprised but as a tense match at the top of the Championship I thought it might have been more of an attritional contest.

The winning goal was scored by Ollie Watkins who had to kick the ball about two inches to get it across the line as his team had done the hard work getting the ball to the centre of the goalmouth. He has taken the mantle of Neil Maupay who moved on to Brighton and upset Arsenal fans by injuring Bernd Leno then scoring the winning goal in the last few seconds of the match.

Being an Arsenal fan I accepted the defeat to Manchester City although David Luiz was a liability and his contract should not be renewed (too late as I hear it has already been renewed). Mustafi is another liability. He allowed Maupay to beat him in the last minute of the Brighton match. Mustafi has scored some good goals and made some good blocks but there is always a mistake in him.

So the City and Brighton matches did not stir the enthusiasm that I needed (winning always helps) and it had to wait until Thursday night against Southampton where we put in a creditable performance, not dominating, but enough to wake me up again. Following Thursday up with Friday where my Championship pick Brentford beat the league leaders after beating Fulham in the previous match has refreshed my eagerness for the game.

The matches being played behind closed doors has definitely resulted in matches that are not as highly charged as matches earlier this season but those of us that have watched the game of football all our lives just want something to watch. I could say the same about Speedway but that sport seems to be dying on its feet in this country.

This weekend we return to the F.A.Cup which sparked a lot of my enthusiasm for the Football Pyramid. Where did all these teams come from and how many matches did they have to play before the "FIRST" round of the F.A.Cup? The answer in some cases is MANY.

Today we can watch Norwich against Manchester United.

Tomorrow we can start with Sheffield United against Arsenal.
We can continue with the match between Leicester City and Chelsea.
We can conclude the F.A.Cup games with Newcastle United against Manchester City.

Football is back, though changed, and normal life is close to resuming but a big part of my life I now realise was going from week to week with expectations that maybe just maybe this was OUR year.

I have more chances now that I am following more teams. If Arsenal lose (which is happening much more often than it used to before the Krankees took over) then I have Brentford and if they lose I have Southend who always lose so it is on to Exeter and then Torquay United. Now if the top five lose (and it has happened) I can rely on Weymouth to restore the pride, then Tiverton and Barnstaple although they are another team that always loses. At level nine, step five, I have Exmouth and I have been to see them live several times now always enjoying the experience. Elmore (who started the whole thing) are now back at level 10 and I have moved to a village called Liverton who have a team at Level 11 in the newly formed Devon League.

I wonder if next season will be more normal.

The Top Six Levels

We will start with the National League lower level.

From York to Bradford: The National League North

There are many teams here but York are at the top and Bradford Park Avenue are at the bottom. The playoff places are filled by Spennymoor in the north, Brackley in the south, Kings Lynn Town and Boston United in the east and Altrincham and Chester in the west. Sadly we will not see the playoffs take place this year and I gather there is unlikely to be any promotion or relegation now. Strange times.


Oxford and Tonbridge Angels: The National League South

Wealdstone sit at the top and will be the unlucky recipients of a lack or promotion. The lucky recipients of a lack of relegation will be Hungerford Town. The lack of playoff matches apply to Havant & Waterlooville, Weymouth, Bath City, Slough Town, Dartford and Dorking Wanderers. I have followed Concord Rangers for a long time and noted their progress under Danny Cowley. Braintree Town overperformed when he took over there and they had great success for a part time club.


From Wrexham to Dover: The National League

Barrow sit at the top and wait to be robbed of their place in the Football League although the Bury situation may mean that they are promoted anyway. There is talk that the Football League matches will be played to completion and then we will see the promotions and relegations that make the whole process worthwhile. If Barrow then gain promotion with no Football League club coming down to replace them then there will be adjustments down or a deal to be done with Bury Football Club.


The Crewe are in Stevenage: Football League Two

The automatic promotion places are occupied by Crewe Alexandra, Swindon Town and Plymouth Argyle. The playoff places contain Exeter City, Cheltenham Town, Colchester United and Northampton Town. With Bury being thrown out of the league the only team in relegation danger is Stevenage. Salford City are safely in the middle of the table at the end of their first season in the Football League.


Bury are sent to Coventry: Football League One

Bury are shown at the bottom of the table as an expelled club. The relegation zone contains Tranmere Rovers and Southend United (it must be the Friday night curse) and Bolton Wanderers. Coventry City and Rotherham United are in the automatic promotion slots and the playoff places are occupied by Oxford United, Portsmouth, Fleetwood Town and Peterborough United. Sunderland sit just outside the playoffs so will probably have to remain at this level for another season.


Guess who Leeds?: Football Championship

Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion are sat in the automatic promotion places and are followed by playoff contenders Fulham and Brentford with Nottingham Forest and Preston North End. The relegation chasers are Charlton Athletic, Luton Town and Barnsley. In the middle of the table are a whole raft of teams that have Premier League experience. The money needed at Premier League level is now such that any team gaining promotion needs to learn fast and stay up once they reach that level.


The Money Tree: Premier League

Liverpool have won the league by a mile .... unless this season is declared null and void which would be massively entertaining for fans of all the other clubs but a nightmare for the Liverpool fans. The relegated clubs would be Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Norwich City if things remain as they stand. Tottenham and Arsenal sit just outside the European places so they would be the losers if nothing moves and Sheffield United with Wolverhampton Wanderers would be the beneficiaries. Leicester City have now earned their place as one of the top clubs in the country.

Missing Matches

So what are we missing today?

Saturday 18th April:

1) Arsenal v. Leicester

2) Brentford v. Preston North End

3) Southend United v. Portsmouth

4) Exeter City v. Carlisle United

5) Torquay United v. Dover Athletic

6) Weymouth v. Tonbridge Angels

7) Gosport Borough v. Tiverton Town

8) Barnstaple Town v. Cirencester Town

9) Exmouth Town v. Odd Town

10) Torrington v. Elmore Eagles

11) Liverton United fixtures were only released a week or two before and kept changing so I will never know what should have been going on this weekend.

The local leagues were listed in a similar manner to Liverton United. We will never know.

There will be no results as COVID-19 has taken over. It's a bit like the Nazis only smaller.

Strange Times

We are living in strange times.

Today my lunch was one giant crumpet with lashings of low cholesterol margarine and a glass of pink grapefruit juice followed by part of an easter egg with a cup of tea.

I am also now using Brave without knowledge of the risks rather than Google Chrome that has been slowing everything down by loading advertisements and I hear tracking my progress around the web.

Football goes on as normal, however, and whilst I could have said that for every other year that I have been alive this year things have changed. Football in all its guises has STOPPED.

Nobody KNOWS what is going to happen as whatever happens I can see challenges in the courts taking place by those who will lose the most money as a result of the decisions taken. Football is no longer a sport, it is a business and the money men will fight tooth and nail and probably even murder their own grandmothers for £5.

It has given me a chance to catch up on my league tables and I always look at those tables at this time of year to see which clubs are likely to rise and which ones are destined to fall. This season MIGHT be the season where nothing changes. It is one of many options and it would be unfair to many teams, most notably Jersey who need to be promoted and earn more money to cover the costs of transporting their opponents to the channel islands.

This post, however, is intended to cover the professional game from level 8 (Step 4) all the way to the top. I have decided to come up with a nickname for each of the leagues, a task which started when I looked at The Isthmian League South Central.


The Laundry League: Isthmian League South Central

Ware at the top and Staines at the bottom. Ware are six points clear at the top and probably deserve promotion while at the bottom Staines could have finished above FC Romania. In the middle of the table sit the boys from South Park "Oh no, they killed Kenny" and the four teams in the playoff places are Hanwell Town, Uxbridge, Chertsey Town and Westfield (one of two in the professional Leagues, the third is called Westfields (plural)).


The Southern Towns League: Southern League Division One South

Thatcham Town are in the lead on goal difference over Frome Town with Barnstaple Town at the bottom just below Basingstoke Town. Melksham Town, Cirencester Town, Cinderford Town and Highworth Town all play in this league so I expect Winchester City to buck their ideas up and move to a better level cognisant with their name (although I expect THEM to spell that word cognizant).


The Class League: Northern Premier League North West Division

From Workington AFC at the top to Pickering Town at the bottom. The leaders are working and the losers are Picking or Pickering to make a living. Those two places seem settled looking at the table and the playoff places hold Ramsbottom United, Marine, Pontefract Collieries and Marske United. Clitheroe are currently sixth and I am sure many men have started typing their name without completing it. Kendal Town is a place I have long wanted to watch a match as it is in the Lake District.


The Northern Towns League: Northern Premier League South East Division

Leek Town at the top (I tried to work a toilet joke in there) and Wisbech Town at the bottom (more waterworks ideas). I tried to Chasetown some toilet jokes but that ended in a dead Glossop North End. Newcastle Town and Worksop Town got me thinking differently and when I found Ilkeston Town and Sutton Coldfield Town I changed my plan. Alongside Stamford in the playoff places are Cleethorpes Town, Belper Town and Carlton Town.


The ABCD League: Southern League Division One South

I found at least two teams each starting with these early letters of the alphabet so the league has earned its names as a result of containing Aylesbury United (in the playoff places) and AFC Dunstable. The Bs are Berkhamsted, Biggleswade, Barton Rovers, Bedworth United and Bedford Town. We have Corby Town and Coleshill Town starting with a C and finally Daventry Town and Didcot Town starting with a D. The other teams have no chance of being top of the table at the start of next season.


The Phoenix League: Isthmian League South East Division

Looking at the teams and listening to the television I believe I was triggered by the wildlife program talking about various birds while I was looking directly at Whitehawk, another bird. Phoenix Sports have very little to do with Albus Dumbledore as far as I know but I have personally watched birdlife in Hastings, Guernsey, Whitstable and Ramsgate. I do hope the pigeons stay and continue stealing chips once the Corona Virus has disappeared. Not funny when it happens to you it is funny to watch others lose their food.


The Essex Man League: Isthmian League North Division

This would have been a league I could have watched if I had not left Essex long ago. In my young years I heard about Basildon United, Grays Athletic and Canvey Island fielding East London boys, hard as nails and with no fear. Great Wakering Rovers played on the pitch next to the one I played on and Maldon & Tiptree was where my church took us on the Sunday School outing. This league has expanded north and now includes Cambridge City and Dereham Town. Romford are the true East End of London side.



Level 7 (Step 3) now has four leagues, up from the previous three.

The Worthing League: Isthmian League Premier Division

My choice of name because they are top of the league and deserve promotion but nothing is certain and they could be the second biggest losers of Covid-19 after Jersey Bulls. I just checked up on their chairman George Dowell who invested his own money into the club when he lost his mobility and ended up in a wheelchair but I see that he stepped down a couple of years ago. He is still the owner, however, so I support the club in their legal appeal against the 2019-20 season being called null and void. The club may never again have the chance of promotion to the National League. Life is uncertain.


The South Shields League: Northern Premier League Premier Division

The long standing problem of the Northern League being too strong for Level 9 (Step 5) seems to be resolving itself so we need teams that earn promotion straight through this league to move on and prove that money will come rolling in if the Northern League clubs take the risk of being promoted into the Football Pyramid system. South Shields are well clear of the other clubs so deserve a chance at the higher level. Stopping the promotion of teams like this will have retrograde knock-on effects.


The Kings Diamonds League: Southern League Premier Central Division

Probably the hardest league to name I just picked two clubs in the middle and joined parts of their names together. Kings Langley and AFC Rushden & Diamonds are responsible for the name. Peterborough Sports are ahead on goal difference from Tamworth. Royston Town, Bromsgrove Sporting and Rushall Olympic are the other teams in the playoff places.
Alvechurch and Redditch United are the two teams that would benefit from a lack of change this summer.


The Tiverton and Taunton League: Southern League Premier Division South

With Truro City at the top and Chesham United in second, Hayes & Yeading United in third and Swindon Supermarine in fourth my attention was drawn to the bottom of the playoff places with Tiverton Town just inside and Taunton Town just outside. Knowing that Tiverton v. Taunton is a regular pre-season match the name seemed to fit and I have used it. Salisbury is the team I always wanted to take over as there is no competition for miles around but I think I have learned that local competition is important. The big city teams often play best against other teams from the same city.


I think that will do for now and I hope that I do continue before long travelling both up the National League to the Football League and down to the many many leagues that form Level 9 (Step 5). Keep reading and let me know if you have any comments or even arguments.

Liverton 5 Exmouth Reserves 2

Liverton produced their best performance of the season to come from 0-1 down to beat their young opponents.

Two well taken goals from Man of the Match Dejan Maric laid the platform for the win. Maric worked tirelessly in his striking role.

Further goals from Sam Hebbes, Nick Edmunds and Neil Last with his customary 25 yard free kick sealed the win.

Well done lads.

Great display.

Saturday 7th March : Fixtures

For the first time in a long time all my fixtures are taking place on Saturday.

1) Arsenal v. West Ham United
2) Brentford v. Sheffield Wednesday
3) Southend v. Bristol Rovers
4) Walsall v. Exeter
5) Sutton United v. Torquay
6) Bath City v. Weymouth
7) Tiverton v. Weston-super-Mare
8) Barnstaple v. Sholing
9) Exmouth v. Chipping Sodbury Town
10) Elmore v. Torrington
11) Liverton v. Exmouth Town Reserves

12) Beer Albion v. Cronies
13) Lympstone v. Bow Amateur Athletic Club
14) Sandford v. Elmore 2nds
15) North Tawton v. Westexe
16) Cranbrook v. Kentisbeare 2nds
17) Farway United v. Broadclyst
18) Topsham Town 2nds v. Elmore 3rds
19) Priory v. Lympstone 2nds
20) Westexe 2nds v, Witheridge 3rds

All we need now is a day without torrential rain.

Rambling On - Combined Counties League

So I found out something very interesting today.

I first started keeping track of all the football leagues in England back in 2011-12 when I was working for a company that had no concept of man management and insisted that I work on a project where there was no work to be done.

To be fair I was given the option of going back to my old job but if you were paid to sit around waiting for some work to show up what would you do? My choices were to sit and stare into space or do something. I chose to research the Football Pyramid and starting with the Premier League and then the Football League. I established that below the National League there were a whole host of other leagues and back then teams could apply to move from one to another.

Having completed the Level 1 to 5 single division diagram I learned that there were two divisions at Level 6 although those non league officianados insisted on calling it Step 2. Below that there were three regional leagues, the Northern Premier League, the Southern League which covered a huge area, and the Isthmian League centred around East London.

Each of the regional leagues had feeder divisions at Level 8 and at one point I thought "that will do" but I am a perfectionist so I wanted to continue the pyramid to its ultimate conclusion. Little did I know that there are far more leagues than I ever expected and I have now started collecting Scottish, Welsh and Irish leagues after completing most if not all of the county leagues. The F.A. have now decided the County Leagues should sit at Level 11 (Step 7) and have been decimating long standing leagues to achieve that aim.

When I reached Level 9 (Step 5) I decided to work in alphabetical order and the Combined Counties League was first out of the hat. This league had and still has a Premier Division and a Division One.
What intrigued me most this morning was that back in 2011-12 when I started the team sitting at the top of the Combined Counties League Division One was Guernsey. I visited their ground when I was on holiday a few years back.

This season 2019-20 the team at the top of the Combined Counties League Division One is Jersey Bulls following in the Guernsey footsteps. The "Combined" name means that the league is very flexible in terms of who it allows in and it has allowed the channel islands teams to compete albeit that they have to pay for the travel costs of their opponents when they visit the islands.

This level 10 division includes teams such as Fleet Spurs, Bagshot, Cove and Westside as well as the more interestingly named Chessington & Hook United, Eversley & California (there IS a California in Britain), British Airways (I wonder if this is a works team) and FC Deportivo Galicia (maybe with some foreign nationals in the team). According to my table four teams will be promoted to the Premier Division so alongside Jersey Bulls the teams in position at the moment are Farnham Town, Tooting Bec (I am sure there is a station there) and Walton & Hersham. Question: How many sides have merged over the years to become X&Y or A&B?

The Premier Division is currently led by Ascot United followed by Spelthorne Sports. The division includes Sutton Common Rovers, Guildford City and Hanwell Villa who currently sit bottom of the division. It also contains one of my favourite names for a team and that is Badshot Lea. I have a fantasy of watching the team or its opposition playing a forward called Leigh or Lee who would shoot high and wide whereupon we could all shout "Bad Shot Lee". ... Fantasy over.

That concludes the ramble about the Combined Counties League. My knowledge is limited but at least the Channel Islands are now BOTH represented in the professional leagues. This is the first season for Jersey Bulls and they are storming the league so I expect them to go far. The Guernsey side are currently in the Isthmian League South East Division so that must be the minimum target for Jersey as they are the larger of the two islands.

Ramble around the Leagues

We will start in the South West where I live and breathe. My favourite leagues are the ones that start at Level 10 (Step 6). The football pyramid extends to Level 7 but the Football Association are now pushing for Level 7 to be County Level leagues so anything above that has to be pushed, pulled and pulverised until it fits the dream that the F.A. have.

The South West Peninsula League has always held a fascination for me as I watched teams promoted from the subsidiary division which are free to the Premier Division where they are required to charge money and count the crowd. I always felt that this league allowed a transition from amateur football to the professional game but the F.A. have put paid to that. They want the professional game under their jurisdiction, and the amateur game can make their own rules.

So ... This Season ... There is no league as such. There are now two parallel divisions, one east and one west. I shall watch closely at the end of the season to see where the champions end up as previous to this season the winners of the South West Peninsula and the winners of the Western League Division One were both eligible for promotion to the Western League Premier Division. Now there will be three teams vying to go up so expect there must be three teams coming down in different directions. Relegation and Promotion are rarely one to one at this level.

The two teams at the top of the East Division are Ilfracombe Town in North Devon and Brixham in South Devon. The non league matters league table suggests that both teams will be promoted but I cannot see that unless the F.A. have more changes in mind that they have not announced yet, or are not yet general knowledge. At the bottom and heading for the Devon League are Sidmouth Town, more know for Folk Music than for football.

At the top of the West Division are Helston Athletic from west cornwall and AFC St Austell from east cornwall. At the bottom are Godolphin Atlantic from Newquay heading in the same direction as their airport now that FLYBE have been abandoned by the government despite being acknowledged as an important connector for business personnel around Britain.

There are two more league that start at Level 10 (Step6). One is the East Midlands Counties League that acts as a feeder to the Northern Counties East League. Sherwood Colliery are at the top (was Robin Hood a miner?) and they are closely followed by Eastwood Community. I like it when community football makes the big time. They are followed by Dunkirk (not the French city but the team on the banks of the River Trent in Nottingham), and Heanor Town close to the Eastwood where Robin Hood was rumoured to have lived. At the bottom are Teversal and Borrowash Victoria, two nice name but clubs that I know nothing about.

The last of the Level 10 (Step 6) Leagues is my new favourite. They became my favourite when I read a report that the Football Association want to exclude them from the structure of the pyramid. Short sighted F.A. officials clearly cannot get the league to fit easily into their 1-2-4-8-16-32 format so they do not come up with creative ideas, they simply say "you're OUT!". This must not be allowed to happen and I am sure there are enough people in the midlands who can kick up the necessary stink to force the F.A. to change their minds.

The West Midlands (Regional) League has three divisions and forms a league so the F.A. will want to cut the lower two divisions free but may instead just cut the league free. Division Two is being led by AFC Bentley, closely followed by Church Stretton Town. The league includes teams called Ludlow (lovely place) and Newport Town (a third Newport after Wales and the Isle of Wight). Other teams are from Worcester, Walsall and Bridgnorth.

The West Midlands (Regional) League Division One are led by Droitwich Spa who are eight points clear and I expect to see them in the Premier Division provided that the F.A. have not destroyed the league in time for next season. There are a few familiar names in this division like Old Wulfrunians and Wellington Amateurs as well as Tipton Town and Sikh Hunters.

The professional division is led by Shifnal Town with Bewdley Town and Dudley Town close behind. Wolverhampton Casuals and Wolverhampton Sporting Community are in this division and I remember those name as they take a lot of typing. The two teams likely to go down are Cradley Town and Dudley Sports.

That concludes my ramble about the Step 6 Leagues.

Matches not postponed

Most of the matches on my spreadsheet were postponed this week but the ones that were not are:

Cardiff City 2 Brentford 2. A creditable draw away from home.

This result puts Brentford firmly in the play-off places. Eleven points off automatic promotion and three points above Bristol City who are just outside the zone.

Oxford United 2 Southend United 1. Another defeat in a long line.

Southend are four points above Bolton but I expect Bolton to rise above us in the next few weeks. More importantly we are seventeen points from safety. We WILL be relegated.

Exeter 1 Crawley Town 1. Drawing at home is not promotion form.

Exeter 1 Crewe Alexandra 1. Drawing at home is not promotion form.

Exeter are now top of the play-off places and Colchester are ten points behind us, just outside the zone. Above us on goal difference sitting on 65 points are Plymouth Argyle, our local rivals. Above them are Crewe Alexandra on 66 points so we missed a chance last night. Swindon Town remain top of League Two on 69 points.

Torquay 2 Chorley 0. A good home win but expected against the team who are at the foot of the table.

Torquay are firmly in the middle of the table, only six points from a possible play-off place and eight points above the relegation zone.

Weymouth 5 Maidstone United 1. You have already read the match report in my previous post.

Dorchester Town 2 Weymouth 4. Weymouth are now WINNERS of the Dorset Senior Cup.

I can only assume that Bournemouth put out a weakened side at some point in the competition.

Weymouth are in the play-off places on 59 points, seven points behind league leaders Wealdstone. Hampton & Richmond, just outside the play-off places are on 46 points.

In the Devon & Exeter League Premier Division Cronies beat Colyton 2-1 away. They seem to play even when the rest of the league are not playing and I thought it must be their pitch but this time they were away from home.

On Monday Arsenal qualified in the F.A.Cup by beating Portsmouth 2-0.

The other two Tuesday matches apart from Crewe and Dorchester were both bad defeats.

Beaconsfield Town 4 Tiverton Town 0.

Tiverton are in the play-off places on 55 points. Truro City in the automatic promotion place are on 66 points and Taunton Town just outside the play-offs are on 51points.

Shepton Mallett 4 Exmouth Town 0.

Exmouth Town at one point had about five games in hand over those above them but a few defeats and matches played have changed all that. We sit on 53 points in 5th place, with Tavistock on 53 above us on goal difference, Hallen on 56 points, Bradford Town on 58 points and Plymouth Parkway on 58 points.

I am now currently watching midweek F.A.Cup matches. This must be because TV money is much greater for one match per night than for showing them all on a Saturday night. What is the worst that money can do to the game? That will be what happens next!

Weymouth 5 Maidstone United 1

From the non-league paper:

Weymouth finally gave their fans a relaxing afternoon with an emphatic home win against a Stones' side who looked worse for wear from their long trip.

This was the first time the Terras had won at the Bob Lucas Stadium by more than a solitary goal since a 3-0 win over Braintree in late October and they could even afford the luxury of missing two penalties out of the three they were awarded.

Calvin Brooks began the rout inside the first three minutes when he ended a twisting run with a bullet shot that beat Chris Lewington inside his near post.

Halfway through the half Josh McQuoid slipped in Ben Thomson who stroked home the second moments before Abdulai Baggie failed from the spot.

It was, however, 3-0 just before the break after the unfortunate Ryan Johnson found his own net.

The Terras were virtually home and dry within nine minutes of the restart when Tom Whelan thumped home from the spot. Whelan should have scored again 15 minutes later but was left with egg on his face when he missed Weymouth's third penalty of the match.

The Stones did grab a consolation in the 75th minute. Sam Corne headed past Ward at the second attempt but the Terras rounded off the scoring late, substitute Hack Hoey hammering home a loose ball to complete the rout.

Friday Snippet

So Exmouth Town's trip to Willand Rovers in the Devon St Lukes Bowl on wednesday night was postponed.

Arsenal assumed they were going to go through in the Europa League after winning the away leg against Olympiacos. The match started with Arsenal playing a lazy Sunday afternoon after lunch style. Olympiacos were faster, sleeker and more accurate with their passing. They took a deserved lead and held on to it so the match went into extra time.

In extra time Aubameyang scored the goal with a scissors kick. He was only in a central position because Lacazette had been taken off. The 1-1 scoreline was sufficient to put Arsenal through but now a single goal for Olympiacos would put them through on the away goals rule. Arsenal held on up until the 119th minute. With a minute to go Olympiacos scored the winner and some blame must go to Bernd Leno who had needlessly dallied and given away a corner.

Scoring in the last minute is usually enough to win but there was still time in injury time for Auba to get another chance. It seemed easier to score but he hit his shot wide and Arsenal were cut free from the Europa Cup and can now concentrate on the Premier League and of course the F.A.Cup.

Arsenal travel to Portsmouth on Monday night for their F.A.Cup trial.

At the matches listed below ladies are entitled to ask their boyfriends to marry them:

Brentford are away at Cardiff.

Southend are away at Oxford.

Exeter are at home to Crawley.

Torquay are at home to Chorley.

Weymouth are at home to Maidstone.

Tiverton are away to Swindon (the Supermarine variety).

Barnstaple seem to be missing a fixture.

Exmouth are away to Clevedon Town.

Elmore are at home to Plymouth Marjon (a college where an ex girlfriend studied).

Liverton are away at Teignmouth. Some nice pubs down there.

Cronies are away at Colyton.

The other matches are far too unimportant for you to bother with.

Who am I kidding? All matches matter to the players involved in them.

Catching up with results

On Saturday I was able to watch Brentford 2 Blackburn Rovers 2 and with Blackburn going 2-0 up that has to be seen as a good recovery. A magical strike from Ollie Watkins got things back on track.

Southend United continued a miserable season with a home defeat to Burton Albion. Burton won the game 3-2 to keep Southend in prime position for relegation.

Exeter suffered a rare defeat away at Northampton. Northampton won that match 2-0 but I am pleased to say that in the rugby on Sunday revenge was gained as Exeter beat Northampton 57-7.

In the Vanarama National League Torquay took on FC Halifax at home. A 1-0 home win was the end result.

Weymouth entertained Billericay Town in the National South but that match finished 0-0. No goals to report. No news to report.

Tiverton were at home to Wimborne Town in the Southern League Premier Division South. These leagues are getting more and more complicated. All just to satisfy the limited thinking of the Football Association who want a 2-4-8-16 formation that does not match the geography of the country.

Barnstaple against Thatcham Town was postponed due to the weather. Rain? What rain?

Exmouth entertained Wellington (not the Duke) and won their home match 2-0. The season continues on a good path with a chance of promotion.

Elmore were due to play at Dartmouth but I think the Dartmouth pitch was similar to the picture above.

I did not know about it as the Devon League website is so far out of date that planning even a week ahead is just not possible. Liverton took on the University of Exeter and managed a 4-4 draw. Given the season to date this is a good result that may well see my local village safe from relegation. The team must have a few new players as the early season team showed little footballing ability.

Only three of the local league matches went ahead and the results were one of each. Cranbrook beat Central, Broadclyst drew with Awliscombe and Lympstone 2nds lost 7-1 to Devon Yeoman 2nds.

I enjoyed the match on Sunday now that I have access to Sky Sports via Now TV. Arsenal took on Everton so Mikel Arteta should have known all about both teams. Bukayo Saka once again proved to be a match winner with a fantastically placed cross for Pepe to run onto and produce a Henriesque flying finish with his leading foot ahead of him in mid air.

Everton had taken the lead in the first minute because Arsenal still go to sleep whenever there is a dead ball situation. I cannot believe that they do not practice defending such situations.

At this point the match was 1-1 with Everton having the early play and Arsenal coming back strongly after recovering from their exertions (and win) against Olympiacos. Things felt great when David Luiz played one of his long through passes that found Pierre-Emeryck Aubameyang who timed his run to perfection, and in another Henrieque moment opened his body shape and scored in the far corner. Thierry Henri was back in the shape of Pepe and Aubameyang.

Arsenal then conceded from a corner and I was entertained by watching David Luiz come out late thus playing Everton onside and then heading thin air miles from the ball. Brilliance and lunacy from the same player which I was warned about by my Chelsea supporting friend Jen.

Halftime saw both teams going in with the score at 2-2. This match could go either way.

The match was one by a well placed cross from Pepe who found Aubameyang near the penalty spot. His well directed header found the net and whilst it will never make goal of the season it was enough for the win.

Everton had many chances to equalise after that but they wasted them all.


In the Luton v. Brentford match last night an early own goal gave Luton the lead. According to the highlights Brentford then had many attacked before Luton scored again. Brentford then had more attacks eventually scoring a consolation prize. The match finished 2-1 to Luton.

Tough Weekend

I listed the matches that I want to watch this weekend last night.

SAT 12:30 Brentford v. Blackburn SKY SPORTS
SAT 12:30 Chelsea v. Tottenham BT SPORT

We were out shopping : Family comes first : Got back to see Blackburn 2-0 up.
My Championship pick came back to 2-2 via an Ollie Watkins screamer and a penalty.

SAT 14:15 Italy v. Scotland Rugby ITV

Italy played some good rugby to gain ground several times but Scotland won 17-0.

SAT 16:45 Wales v. France Rugby BBC

As I write this the French have just scored the first try and the score is 3-7.

SAT 17:20 Sutton United v. Barrow BT SPORT

Foreign Football late into the evening but I think I have to give the wife the TV for the evening.

TOMORROW

SUN 12:00 Women's rugby as Wales take on France and England take on Ireland

That will have to be cut short as I try and watch using both my computer and the television:

SUN 13:00 Exeter v. Northampton Rugby BT SPORT
SUN 13:00 Arsenal women v. Lewes women BBC Red Button & F.A.Player

SUN 15:00 England v. Ireland Rugby ITV

SUN 16:30 Arsenal v. Everton SKY SPORTS = Three Line Whip, cancel other plans.

Foreign Football continues late into the evening but I have agreed to go and watch "Yesterday" with the wife.

France have just had a try disallowed for a forward pass. The score is now 6-10.

Winter Break

So I have completed my mid winter break.

YOU can go and find out what happened while I was away. Some very interesting results I can tell you.

This week Southend United lost 1-0 at home to Gillingham. They are in deep trouble.

I managed to watch Portsmouth v. Exeter as I now have access to Sky Sports via Now TV. I refuse to pay Rupert Murdoch directly but I have to admit that Sky Sports provides what people like me want.

The match was a tight game for 78 minutes. Jake Taylor battered the ball into the net to put a very young Exeter side ahead in what had been a tight game. This should have been enough and in most cases would have been. Portsmouth equalised in the 86th minute and that should have been it. We were now expecting a penalty shootout. Exeter kept chasing the game and a well placed cross led to an own goal in the 89th minute. Surely that was it. Exeter had just achieved a famous victory against a very strong Portsmouth team.

The fourth official indicated that there would be 5 minutes of injury team although nobody could work out where that had come from. Was this Fergie time? Kenny Jackett may have taken on the mantle and now influenced the fourth official from his position close to the touchline. In the 91st minute Portsmouth equalised. OK, So we will have to accept the lottery of a penalty shootout. Nope! In the 96th minute of a 95 minute match Portsmouth scored the winner. This young Exeter side had produced a brilliant performance but it was not enough. They will have to learn fast.

Portsmouth 3 Exeter 2 - (96th minute of a 95 minute match).

The Exmouth match away at Odd Down was postponed. Perhaps it had something to do with the rain?

We were discussing the first knockout match this season in the Europa League. A narrow defeat would be acceptable but I was only going to be happy with a 0-0 scoreline. The new Arsenal under Mikel Arteta needs to recreate the Arsenal of old where we DO NOT CONCEDE. As it happens we did not have to worry. Olympiacos attacked strongly at the beginning of both halves but could not break our leaky and wobbly defence. What is more Bukayo Saka is proving to be the find of the season as he created a number of chances the best of which led to Alexander Lacazette scoring the winning goal. Laca is Backa! I hope he scores many more in the weeks to come.

This weekend the matches to look forward to are:

1) Arsenal v. Everton on Sunday.

2) Brentford v. Blackburn Rovers.

3) Southend v. Burton Albion.

4) Northampton Town v. Exeter.

5) Torquay v. FC Halifax Town.

6) Weymouth v. Billericay Town.

7) Tiverton v. Wimborne Town.

8) Barnstaple v. Thatcham Town.

9) Exmouth v. Wellington.

10) Dartmouth v. Elmore

No match listed for Liverton but that has become more the norm as the season goes on.

The local league matches are my business and not yours so I will only mention exceptional performances.

Enjoy your weekend wherever you are watching your football.

Results @ Brexit Weekend

Brentford beat Hull City 5-1 away as we found out earlier.

Southend United produced a good result beating Lincoln City 2-1 at home.

Exeter City suffered their second defeat in a week going down 2-1 at Swindon Town.

Torquay United travelled to Barrow and went down to the same score as Exeter, 2-1.

Weymouth visited Braintree and went 1-0 down but drew level to finish the match 1-1.

Tiverton went 2-0 up away at Salisbury but then allowed the home team to come back for a 2-2.

Barnstaple went 2-0 down at Moneyfields. They never recovered and finished the match losing 5-2.

Exmouth performed worse than Tiverton going 2-0 up at Roman Glass St George. Roman Glass then produced three goals of their own to win the match 3-2.

Elmore had no match this weekend.

Liverton are showing something of a revival winning 2-1 at Topsham Town. Should I go back and watch my home village or do you think it is my lack of support that results in these wins?

There was a good set of results in my local league matches but Elmore 2nds and 3rds are flying.

Elmore 2nds beat Clyst Valley 2nds 11-0.

Elmore 3rds beat Otterton 2nds 15-1.

Sorry Broadclyst but a 4-0 win is just not good enough for a mention.

Twitter On

Just playing with Twitter and it seems to be a useful source of football scores.

As at 3:30pm ...

Swindon are leading Exeter City 1-0.

All my other Football League and National League matches are 0-0.

Tiverton are beating Salisbury 2-0.

Barnstaple are losing to Moneyfields 2-0.

Exmouth Town are beating Roman Glass St George 2-0.

Twitter on.

Hull 1 Brentford 5

Happy Days.

The BMW up front for Brentford fired on all cylinders and produced a marvelous performance at the KC Stadium. Said Benrahma (B) scored a hat-trick and looked the part although he was booked for removing his shirt to show the message "Je t'aime papa" or "I love you dad". His father died recently so he is going through the pain that many of us have been through.

Bryan Mbeumo (M) had his chances and missed at least one golden opportunity. He was, however, instrumental in causing mayhem amongst the Hull defenders.

The final jigsaw piece of this front three is Ollie Watkins (W) and he scored his goal heading in a superbly placed cross from Rico Henry.

The only goal for Hull was a blooper by David Raya that will be played again and again and will be on Question of Sport's "What happened next" before too long. He elected to kick rather than pick up the ball and it slipped between his legs and into the net.

The result puts Brentford into third place in the league but Nottingham Forest have yet to play.

Good start to the day.

I had two screens working so was able to keep my eye on Leicester v. Chelsea as well.

Now for some international rugby union.

Saturday Morning : February 1st

So, on the day that England, Wales and Scotland leave the EU and Northern Ireland are placed in the unenviable position of either building borders and restarting the violence or remaining in Europe and risk reunifying Ireland, football goes on unchanged.

On Monday night I had the pleasure of watching Arsenal secure a win against Bournemouth early on but then missing the excitement of "the fear of losing" gave away a goal in injury time at the end of the second half to try to create panic amongst the fans. Thankfully we held on for the win. 2-1.

Tuesday night for me saw three defeats and a win.

Brentford lost 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest.

Southend lost 3-1 away at Doncaster Rovers.

Exeter suffered a surprise defeat 3-1 away to Port Vale.

The only victory for my teams came as Weymouth travelled to Hemel Hempstead Town. Victory was by one goal to nil. Weymouth are having a good season.

On Wednesday the match between Tiverton and Chesham United was postponed.


Tomorrow Arsenal travel to Burnley.

Today Brentford travel to Hull and as the match is at 12:30 it must be on television somewhere.

Other matches today are:
Southend v. Lincoln City
Swindon Town v. Exeter
Barrow v. Torquay
Braintree Town v. Weymouth
Salisbury v. Tiverton
Moneyfields v. Barnstaple
Roman Glass St George v. Exmouth

No matches listed at levels 10 or 11 but as there have been so many postponements I will check the internet to see if any matches have been rearranged for today.
<check complete>
No match for Elmore but it seems that
Topsham Town v. Liverton United
is now a match available for watching.

A full set of local league matches is also scheduled.

Dead Teams and Dropouts

Because of the complications at Professional Level 10 and Amateur Level 11 including me having to fork out £2 to watch a Level 11 match, I have linked all the Level 11 (and level 12) divisions that are attached to leagues which start at level 9 or 10 in a group that I can monitor more easily than the many many Leagues that start at Level 11.

Cowfold dropped out of the Southern Combination Division Two a while back.

The other leagues all seem consistent from the start of the season apart from one other division.

The Hellenic League Division Two South lost Brimscombe & Thrupp reserves some time ago. There is a second team that has disappeared from this division and that is AFC Chippenham.

I used to go hunting online for reasons but often there are none. People happily publicise successes but are far more reluctant to post information about failures no matter what the reason is. Reserve teams are generally regarded as unimportant but I tell you now that successful clubs always have a reserve team with players ready to take over in the first team when the first team players get injured.

I have found a Google link to "AFC Chippenham resigned in November 2019" so I now know when it happened but can I find out why? No ... that link takes me to the league table with simply the same statement about the club.

At Level 10 we already had Sidlesham out of the Southern Combination League Division One, and Wodson Park out of the Spartan South Midlands League Division One. They have been joined by Pewsey Vale who dropped out of the Wessex League Division One. Quick look for a reason. ... Found the reason = The F.A. made a decision that destroyed the club:

F.A. Impose League Change & Players Leave the Club

This will not be the first time that the F.A. employed blinkered thinking and it will not be the last.

The F.A. still insist that England needs a 2 - 4 - 8 - 16 league structure in spite of the triangular shape of the country. It is like trying to push the square block through the triangular hole that we all learned as children DOES NOT WORK.

Moving onwards and upwards there are no dropouts at Level 9 (Step 5).

Step 4, Level 8 is the subsidiary divisions of the three regional leagues. There are no dropouts at this level but I notice that one of my selections, Barnstaple Town are bottom of the Southern League Division One South on 15 points. Basingstoke are also on 15 points and Moneyfields are on 18 points. There is a strong possibility of finishing bottom, but they did so last season and were reprieved.

There are no dropouts at Level 7, Step 3, but I see that a team I have watched on several occasions are top of the Isthmian League Premier Division. Worthing, not to be confused with Worthing United who had two members killed in that plane crash, have a chance to be promoted to the National League South. The club is owned by a former player who became paralysed so the club has my support for more than one reason.

George Dowell = Owner of Worthing FC

The leagues are more stable than in some previous seasons. I expect no more fallouts from the top six levels and seven divisions.

Saturday 25th Roundup

After the defeat at lunchtime for Brentford going out of the F.A.Cup to Leicester City there were plenty of other matches to get involved with.

Exeter played out a 0-0 draw with Colchester United.

Torquay played out a 0-0 draw with Ebbsfleet United.

Weymouth beat Dorking Wanderers 2-1.

Tiverton took on Walton Casuals at home but could only manage a 2-2 draw.

Barnstaple continued a very poor season with a 4-0 defeat to Slimbridge.

Exmouth entertained Bridgwater Town and achieved the same result as Exeter and Torquay.

I attended the next match although I missed the opening goal.

Elmore took an early lead at Bovey Tracey and were the better team for about 35 minutes. In the last ten minutes of the first half Bovey came back strongly. First they equalised, then they took the lead. Once Elmore had lost their energy they gave away two penalties but only one was scored. The match finished 3-1 to Bovey Tracey and I think I must return to watch more football on the rain affected pitch. I was told by a local that the whole pitch is now much worse than when a match was cancelled for a small wet patch in one corner. Such is life.

Facebook informed me, so it must be a special occasion, that Liverton won 6-5 away. The post I shall copy below word for word:

Heavitree United 5-6 Liverton Utd
Livvy come back from 3-0, 4-1, and 5-3 down win a thriller 5-6. Goals from Neil Last with a hat trick🎩
Dejan Maric, Sam Hebbes and Manager John Fleet sealed the win.
Neil Last with a Panenka penalty 👀 and direct free kick, winning it for Livvy at the death.
Great spirit shown from the lads today.


Elmore's 2nd and 3rd teams both won 4-0 in the local league matches so it is not all bad for the club.
Cronies won 6-0, Broadclyst won 7-0, and Cranbrook won 3-0. The others fared less well.

Roll on Monday when Arsenal travel to Bournemouth.

The Brentford Team

The Team v. Leicester:

28 Luke Daniels

35 Mads Roersley Rasmussen

23 Julian Jeanvier

32 Luka Racic

2 Dominic Thompson

4 Dru Yearwood

12 Kamohelo Mokotjo

17 Emiliano Marcondes

16 Valencia Castillo

21 Halil Dervisoglu

31 Jan Zamburek

SUBSTITUTES

3 Rico Henry

5 Ethan Pinnock

6 Christian Norgaard

13 Patrik Gunnarsson

14 Pelenda Joshua Dasilva

19 Bryan Mbeumo

33 Fredrik Hammar

Leicester have taken an early lead.

Saturday Morning 25th January = Brentford LIVE on BBC1

I have BBC one on and I intend to watch the Brentford F.A.Cup match against Leicester City.

If I feel like it I will post updates here so that my fan can appreciate it.

Friday Night Report

Firstly Exmouth Town.

They postponed a home fixture against Brislington in the league to play a Devon St Lukes Bowl match away at Willand Rovers. This match was also postponed so there is no result to tell you about.

Weymouth finally played the many times postponed match against Verwood Town and unsurprisingly ran out 5-0 winners. The Dorset senior cup is now well in their sights.

Arsenal, in the middle of a sad season, with infighting and fear ruling the players, produced a special performance against Chelsea. When I say special performance I probably really mean special result.

Chelsea dominated the first half but only got a single goal. That was a penalty after our very own comedy player Mustaffi passed the ball perfectly for Chelsea to score and David Luiz elected to wrestle the player in blue to the ground. Jorginho put away the penalty to give the blues the lead.

Gabriel Martinelli produced a moment of brilliance from a Chelsea corner. He picked up the ball in his own half and ran the length of the pitch to score a solo goal. There was a moment of luck when Kante produced a Mustaffi moment and fell over right in front of him. It still took composure to tuck the ball away after the length of the run.

Azpilicueta gave Chelsea the lead again in the 84th minute and that seemed to be that. Try spelling that name after two pints when he is not known for scoring goals. Match over, Arsenal down to ten men with David Luiz receiving a red card from his earlier debut in greco roman style athletics.

So two men, enjoying the match on television with a young child upstairs sleeping, screamed with joy when Hector Bellerin in his first match back from injury neatly slots the ball into the far corner of the net. Fortunately she was sound asleep. My daughter went to check after hearing our screams.

The match may well prove to be a turning point but we have hoped that so many times over the last two seasons. If we produce a lazy performance in the match against Bournemouth we are back to square one.

THIS WEEKEND

1) Arsenal travel to Bournemouth in the F.A.Cup on Monday night.

2) Brentford are at home to Leicester in the F.A.Cup. The match is at 12:45 on Saturday.

The match against Nottingham Forest has been put back until Tuesday at 19:45.

3) Southend were due to take on Bury on Saturday but as they were kicked out there is no match.

The next Southend fixture is away to Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday.

4) Exeter City are at home to Colchester United.

"Oi can't read and oi can't write but that don't really matter. I come down from Colchester and I can drive a tractor."

5) Torquay United are at home to Ebssfleet United. Is tomorrow a good day to visit Plainmoor?

6) Weymouth are at home to Dorking Wanderers. The last time I was there I used their toilets when I nipped into the ground from the speedway track next door.

7) Tiverton Town are at home to Walton Casuals. Perhaps it is time for my first visit there.

8) Barnstaple are away to Slimbridge. More points are required if they are to escape relegation.

9) Exmouth Town are at home to Bridgwater Town. I have become a fan and it is only half an hour in the car. There is a strong possibility that I attend this match.

10) Elmore are away to Bovey Tracey. This is only a ten minute drive and a chance to see my 10th choice. This is an exciting prospect.

11) Liverton are away to Heavitree United. Not so exciting since I learned that the Heavy Tree is long gone. Liverton are out of the relegation zone and I hope they stay out.

There is a full set of fixtures in the local league matches. I will let you know of any startling or unusual results.

Have a fantastic weekend whoever you support. I hope you experience the sort of match that I did on Tuesday but don't wake your children up and remember that football isn't life.

Mid Term Report = Brentford

The last season at Griffin Park has been a good one so far.

Football League Championship

3) Fulham 49
4) Nottingham Forest 48
5) Brentford 47
6) Preston 46
7) Swansea 45
8) Millwall 44

Mostly green on my spreadsheet the results have been good but there is a good sprinkling of red and yellow as well. Since the start of December, though, there have been only two reds and two yellows so the predominant green is continuing into the new year.

The loss of Neal Maupay to Brighton does not seem to have stopped the goals. Tomorrow will be a good test as the visitors are Nottingham Forest, the team immediately above us in the table.

I am really impressed with this selection as I had low hopes at the start of the season. Promotion is not beyond us and it would be great to start the new season in the new stadium in the Premier League.

Football is a sport for dreamers. Dream on!

Mid Term Report = Arsenal

Arsenal have had a very bad season.

We are still in the top half of the table at the moment but only on goal difference.

Premier League

9) Southampton 31 (-11)
10) Arsenal 30 (-2)
11) Crystal Palace 30 (-6)
12) Everton 30 (-7)
13) Burnley 30 (-10)
14) Newcastle 30 (-12)

Pathetic collapses have given way to a bit of competitive nature since Mikel Arteta took the helm.

The signs are positive and coming back from 1-0 and 2-1 down against Chelsea having only ten men on the field has given the Arsenal faithful something to hang onto and cheer about.

The Kroenke family are American and have no concept of the part Arsenal have played in English football. The £3 million consultancy fee demanded by Stan Kroenke should be cut as his advice is clearly taking the club in the wrong direction. But I know that Arsenal are a toy for Americans and others to play with and no longer a football club meaning everything to the fans.

This season has to be one of holding on, strengthening up, and preparing for a real challenge next season.

Saturday 18th January

Postponed is the Mode Average of results on this particular day.

In the local league results Postponed was the median average.

Lympstone managed to lose 6-0 to Exwick Villa 2nds.

Broadclyst and Elmore 3rds both won each side scoring four goals. Dawlish United 2nds managed to get two goals in reply.

Working up from there Elmore beat Stoke Gabriel 2-1 away.

Exmouth travelled to Chipping Sodbury Town following a pitch inspection and won 3-0.

Both Southern League matches were postponed.

From here on in the positive thing is that there is no red on my chart.

Weymouth beat Concord Rangers 2-1 away.

Torquay beat AFC Fylde 3-2 away.

Exeter beat Grimsby Town 1-0 away.

Southend beat Accrington Stanley 2-1 away.

Brentford travelled to Huddersfield and earned a 0-0 draw.

Arsenal entertained Sheffield United and went 1-0 up but conceded late on to draw 1-1. Typical.

Onwards and upwards we go. Chelsea away on Tuesday.

Saturday 11th January 2020

The F.A.Cup third round last Monday saw Arsenal scrape through 1-0. Leeds United played much better than Arsenal in the first half but a Mikel Arteta half time talk seemed to change the mindset and eventually Reiss Nelson scrambled the ball into the net for the win.

Weymouth had a match scheduled against Verwood Town in the Dorset Senior Cup but that was postponed.

Exmouth Town travelled to Shepton Mallet and won 2-1 so they progress in the Les Phillips cup.

Today I had a long lie in and after a quick breakfast sat down to watch the Arsenal match. Arsenal took the lead with a goal from Aubameyang. He later got sent off and his manager cannot complain as we were informed that Mikel Arteta once scored against Crystal Palace and then got sent off. VAR again worked against Arsenal for the sending off but I can have no complaints as we would have been angry if a challenge like that against us was not rewarded with a red card. The match ended 1-1.

Queens Park Rangers turned up at Brentford and went down 3-1 meaning that my team won.

Southend United took on Tranmere Rovers at home and the defence held strong. The match ended 0-0.

Exeter were at home to Cambridge United and won 2-0 keeping their promotion hopes well alive and they are still in with a chance of winning League Two.

The F.A.Trophy continued with Torquay entertaining Halifax Town. Halifax won the match 2-1.

Weymouth were at home to Dulwich Hamlet. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Tiverton Town entertained Poole Town and lost their home game 1-0.

Barnstaple only had one team below them in the league and Basingstoke were the visitors today. Barum chose to lose the match 2-0 and now lie firmly in last place on goal difference.

Exmouth repeated their midweek win beating Roman Glass St George 2-1 at home.

Elmore entertained Ilfracombe Town with the match ending in a 1-1 draw.

Liverton United went to Braunton and lost by the only goal of the game.

My local league teams saw one defeat, two postponements and five victories. Happy days.

Mid Term Report = Exeter City

The League Two table is linked to below:

League Two

1) Swindon 50
2) Exeter 47
3) Crewe 44
4) Bradford 44
5) Cheltenham 41
6) Plymouth 41
7) Forest Green 41

Mostly green but with a good smattering of yellow and red. A good performance so far this season has seen us into second place in the league.

The only defeat since the start of November was in the F.A.Cup second round replay. The most recent win against Ipswich Town was in the Leasing.com Trophy. The League and the Leasing.com Trophy are the two targets for the Grecians now.

I still have not been to watch my home town team as I consider the entertainment poor value for money. Those I speak to talk about odd moments of skill but there is still a lot of bog standard kick it upfield.

Cambridge United are up next. More green please.

Mid Term Report = Southend United

The League One table is linked to below:

League One

19) AFC Wimbledon 24
20) Milton Keynes 24
21) Tranmere 21
22) Southend 9
23) Bolton 7

Whilst Bolton were penalised for financial impropriety and started on minus twelve points Southend suffered no such penalty and are therefore League One's worst performing team.

Without the penalty Bolton would be on 19 points and able to challenge Tranmere and the others to escape relegation.

My spreadsheet is almost entirely red.

One win in the Carabao Cup against Stevenage.

One win in the Leasing.com Trophy against AFC Wimbledon.

The only win in the league came against Milton Keynes Dons.

A slightly promising sign is the red and yellow stripes at the bottom meaning that a number of draws have been achieved. The two matches that would have taken place against Bury have been cancelled so at least that is two matches that we did not lose.

Sol Campbell has taken on the task of managing the club. I think he has a lot of work to do.

As far as my selections go if Southend are relegated then at least Exeter are in a position to get promoted if they continue to win.

Mid Term Report = Torquay United

The National League Table is linked here:

National League Table

11) Barnet 40
12) Sutton 39
13) Dover 39
14) Torquay 38
15) Eastleigh 37
16) Aldershot 37
17) Hartlepool 36

Torquay are in the bottom half of the table but a couple of wins could see them in the top half.

 The fixture list that I create has roughly equal green and red indicating that mid table is the correct position. The worrying aspect is that September and October were predominantly green while November and December have seen too much red. The 5-1 win over Aldershot in the F.A.Trophy and the 4-1 win over Woking were the exceptions.

Next up is the F.A.Trophy match against FC Halifax Town. We beat them 4-2 at their place earlier in the season.

Best results to date : January 4th

Having listed all the results in my spreadsheet I am delighted to see no red.

But it is much better than that and as a result I must include my local league selections.

Cranbrook beat Colyton 2nds 16-1.
Broadclyst beat Starcross Generals 12-0.
Westexe 2nds beat Dawlish United 3rds 8-0.
Cronies beat Seaton Town 7-1.
Elmore 2nds beat East Budleigh 4-1.
Westexe beat Axmouth United 3-0.
Elmore 3rds beat Cullompton Rangers 2nds 4-3.

Pleasing reading for me. Several thrashings for my selections.

Sadly Lympstone could only manage a 2-2 draw with Chard Town Reserves.

So a really great set of results at the bottom of my pyramid.

Now for the official pyramid:

11) Liverton travelled to Clyst Valley and won 2-1.

10) Elmore travelled to Torridgeside and won 3-0.

9) Exmouth entertained Bitton and won 2-0.

8) Barnstaple travelled to Bristol Manor Farm and won 2-1.

7) Hayes & Yeasding could not score against Tiverton so the match ended 0-0.

6) Weymouth travelled to Welling United and won the match 3-1.

5) Dagenham & Redbridge could not score against Torquay so that match also ended 0-0.

4) The Leasing.com trophy saw Exeter beating Ipswich Town 2-1.

3) Southend United did not play, thus helping keep red off my card.

2) Brentford qualified for the next round beating Stoke City 1-0.

1) Arsenal take on Leeds United on Monday Night.

I have to be happy tonight.

January 4th AM : F.A.Cup Day : Before the action starts

Looking back on New Years Day we find that:

Arsenal won a football match. Notable because we have been through the longest period without a win since before Arsene Wenger took over. He was not so bad then ay? Arsenal beat Manchester United with goals from Pepe and Sokratis.

Brentford travelled to anihilate Bristol City 4-0 in their own backyard.

Southend earned a creditable 1-1 draw away to AFC Wimbledon.

Exeter travelled to Forest Green Rovers and their meat based diet helped them to a 1-0 win.

Torquay hosted Yeovil Town and full of the christmas spirit handed the visitors a 2-0 victory.

Weymouth did the same to visitors Havant & Waterlooville but only offered the one goal going down 1-0.

Tiverton entertained local rivals Taunton Town and sent them packing winning the match by 3-2.

Barnstaple shocked the footballing world by beating Mangotsfield United 3-1. That puts them firmly in last place in the table although now on the same points total as Basingstoke.


This is F.A.Cup weekend and the following matches are scheduled:

Arsenal take on Leeds United on Monday Night. I can follow my other teams until then.

Brentford take on Stoke City so we can only hope that there are no broken legs.

Southend take on Gillingham in League One as they are already out of the F.A.Cup.

Exeter are also out of the F.A.Cup but they postponed their league fixture to take on Ipswich Town in the Leasing.com Trophy.

Torquay are away to Dagenham & Redbridge in the Vanarama National League.

Weymouth are away to Welling United in the Vanarama South.

Tiverton are heading to Hayes & Yeading United in the Southern League Premier Division South.

Barnstaple are hoping to build on that recent win as they travel to Bristol Manor Farm.

Exmouth are at home to Bitton in the Western Premier. A half hour drive but I still feel full from the overindulgence that is essential every Christmas.

Elmore are away to Torridgeside and I have no desire to find out where that is exactly.

Liverton are at home to Clyst Valley and if I remember ... checking ... they are one of two teams below us in the league. They are in fact bottom of the league with no points and the drive is one of less than 5 minutes. I shall watch my local village this afternoon. The start time is 2:15pm.

Cronies and Lympstone are away.
Elmore 2nds and Westexe are at home.
All the other local teams are away from home.

I shall leave you now and look forward to reporting back later.

29th December to January 1st 2020 - The new decade

Arsenal took the lead against Chelsea with a goal from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Things were looking good until the mental strength of Arsenal was tested. We caved and lost the match 2-1.

Brentford travelled to Millwall and lost the match by a single goal. The final score 1-0 to Millwall.

Southend should have been away to Bury but Bury were kicked out of the league at the start of the season. A rest day was the result.

Exeter travelled the breadth of the country to take on Colchester United in the City that houses the University of Essex, a concept that often gets people confused. The result was a 2-2 draw.

The BBC Sport website reports:

Ten-man Colchester played out a 2-2 draw with Exeter following a thrilling contest in League Two.

Exeter goalkeeper Jonny Maxted denied Callum Harriott early on, while Ben Seymour's first-time effort from Archie Collins' cross forced opposite number Dean Gerken to make a magnificent save soon after.

The Grecians went ahead in the eighth minute through Jake Taylor, who collected Matt Jay's pass in the area and thumped an unstoppable right-footed shot past Gerken.

But Colchester levelled when Harry Pell powerfully headed in Harriott's corner at the near post.

Randell Williams' free-kick rattled the crossbar for Exeter but the hosts went ahead in the 59th minute through Theo Robinson, who clinically fired in from close range after Pell's shot had been blocked in the area.

But Exeter levelled when Colchester's Tom Lapslie was dismissed for denying a goalscoring opportunity after a foul in the area on substitute Ryan Bowman, who scored from the spot to claim a point for the visitors.

The new decade starts with the matches listed below:

Arsenal are at home to Manchester United at 20:00
Brentford are away to Bristol City at 15:00
Southend are away to AFC Wimbledon at 15:00
Exeter are away to Forest Green Rovers at 15:00
Torquay are at home to local rivals Yeovil Town at 15:00
Weymouth are at home to Havant & Waterlooville at 15:00
Tiverton are at home to local rivals Taunton Town at 15:00
Barnstaple are at home to Mangotsfield United at 15:00
Exmouth are at home to Bitton at 15:00

Elmore have no fixture today.
Liverton United have no fixture today so cannot lose.

The local leagues have not scheduled fixtures for New Years Day.

Enjoy your football whatever level you are watching.