Saturday Morning Anticipation

Saturday mornings used to be so much more vibrant. As a youngster the anticipation of heading out to see my local football team with expectations of a famous victory that often turned out to be a cold wet disappointment ending in defeat was palpable (stops to look that word up). Ah, so palpable means touchable. I used to touch my anticipation then.

These days with vast experience my expectations are of a cold wet afternoon ending in defeat which is probably why I watch most of my football on television. Fortunately I support Arsenal and I am well aware that we suffer fewer defeats than most meaning that very often on a cold wet depressing typically English day I can often reach a high as my team scores goal after goal or, going back a bit, the one goal needed to win.

So I shall look ahead to the weekend and see what it has in store for me.

Arsenal are away at Bournemouth and whilst in the distant past I may have travelled all the way on the day and purchased a ticket at the gate these days with all ticket matches and not understanding the ins and outs of how best to purchase them I shall sit back and watch the match on Sky Sports. I can choose to watch it on their Main Event channel if I want knowing that it is the most important thing happening on Sky at that point in time. That sorts out Sunday at 13:30.

My Championship choice Brentford are also on television so I can watch my top two picks without leaving the comfort of my living room. Brentford are at home to Middlesbrough and the match will not be easy as Brentford are 15th with Middlesbrough in 3rd. Things have not gone well since Dean Smith left and Brentford have fallen down the table but I hope they can pull together and beat those north easterners well at 17:30 today.

My League One team Southend are playing at 15:00 away to AFC Wimbledon. Back in the day that would have been a short trip into London and back, but I will simply follow this on on the BBC website as each goal is scored.

My League Two team Exeter are travelling to my old local rivals Colchester also at 15:00 and the way to follow them is also to watch the BBC website or the Sky coverage (or even BT) and track the situation as each goal is notched up.

In the National League Eastleigh are at home to Chesterfield and it should be a safe home victory as 9th are taking on 19th in the league. For travelling fans Eastleigh have their Lakeside Railway which probably beats admiring the crooked spire. Here's hoping that the Spireites suffer at the hands or feet of the Spitfires.

Weston-super-Mare are not playing in the league today as they are competing in the F.A.Trophy. We have reached the third qualifying round which is where the National League North and South teams join in. Weston travel to Slough Town who are also in the National League South so it should be an even contest except that Slough are mid table in 13th place while Weston remain firmly secured at the foot of the table. This may be the year that Weston return to the Western League.

Tiverton Town inform me on their website that they are at home to Hartley Wintney. This should result in a win as Tiverton beat Hartley Wintney in an F.A.Trophy replay 5-1. The ground is only half an hour away but I think I will stay and keep my wife company as she waits for her operation.

Barnstaple Town are away to Fleet Town in the Southern League Division One South. Barnstaple, like Weston are firmly planted in the relegation zone but the advantage they have today is that they are taking on the only team that are below them in the table. This has to be a six point match. Barnstaple could lift themselves out of the relegation zone if Mangotsfield United lose.

Buckland Athletic were scheduled to take on Cadbury Heath but the match has been marked as postponed so I will not go chasing that result.

The South West Peninsula League website tells me that Exmouth Town have no fixture today. Exmouth themselves tell me that they are away to Bodmin Town. I will check that result later on today.

Now is the time to settle in and look after the wife.

Goodbye AC London

From the Non League Newspaper:

 AC London, the club formed in the wake of the 2011 London riots to keep youngsters off the streets, have been booted out of the Combined Counties League. The decision to blow the whistle on the club came after the conclusion of the F.A. appeal hearing into the decision by fellow league clubs to expel AC London last summer, partially because of their high number of red cards. The club had been given dispensation to start the new season while the appeal process was under way.

 Following an emergency board meeting last Tuesday, the league's board of directors issued a statement which summarised stated that the F.A. had thoroughly investigated and found submissions to be false along with fabricated evidence. They have sanctioned the perpetrator and concluded the appeal.

The Combined Counties League acted in line with laid down procedure and AC London will be removed from the league with immediate effect.

Academic Club London were founded by 16 year old Prince Choudary as a youth team in July 2012 and went open age the following season. Choudary, whose uncle's shop was hit in the riots, then became the youngest manager and chairman in senior football and later the youngest to manage in the F.A.Cup.

AC London joined the Kent Invicta League (now the Southern Counties East League Division One) and later moved sideways to the Combined Counties League Division One.

It was at an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) where a vote concluded that the organisation and management of the club had fallen below the standards appropriate to membership of the competition. The team's disciplinary record on the pitch came under fire with 14 red cards shown before last christmas. The club also failed to fulfil two fixtures at the end of the season.

New AC London chairman Paul Armstrong said "We want to keep the club going and I understand the stance of the Combined Counties League, but we will look to carry on and find a new league for next season.

I, personally, support the CCL as too many times in my youth a team that used violence to intimidate the opposition were the ones that won the league while my teams enjoyed socialising with other teams that felt the same as we did about serial bully boys. This, however, is professional football and we hear every time Graeme Souness is on TV that the way to beat a skilful team like Arsenal is to kick them off the park. This is professional advice. Violence wins.

Good luck to AC London as you continue to act on the advice of Graeme Souness.

Results 17th November

From the bottom of the pyramid:

11: Elmore Eagles

Leaders Elmore had a bad day as they kicked off late away at the University of Exeter after both sides wore green and when the game started the Eagles lost 5-3 to a Student side who started the day in 13th place. The chasing pack all won to close the gap with the title race looking as open as it has ever been this season. 

10: Exmouth Town

Following their 0-0 draw at home to Elburton Villa in midweek Exmouth Town had to come from behind to win 4-3 away at Camelford in a seven goal thriller at Trefrew Park with the normally watertight Town defence breached by the Camels.

9: Buckland Athletic

Buckland travelled to Hengrove Athletic and finished the match 4-0 winners thanks to two goals from Ryan Bush, one from Ethan Phillips and one from Lloyd Gardner.

8: Barnstaple Town

Barnstaple continued a losing season by going down 3-1 at home to Evesham United. The only goal for the home side was scored by Stephen Reed.

7: Tiverton Town

Tiverton battled to a 0-0 draw at home to Hendon. No more information is available at this time.

6: Weston-super-Mare

Weston travelled to Welling United for today’s match and lost the game 3-1. According to the Welling Twitter feed it was Tom Llewellyn that scored the goal for the seagulls.

5: Eastleigh

Eastleigh travelled to Barrow and earned themselves a 3-0 win thanks to two goals from Paul McCallum and one from Ben Williamson. Information from the Barrow Twitter feed.

4: Exeter City

A devastating last-minute Northampton equaliser saw Exeter City held to a draw against the Cobblers at St James Park.

City took the lead through captain Jake Taylor, who netted his first of the season, before Billy Waters levelled for the away side.

Jayden Stockley then struck late in the first half to give City a 2-1 lead, but City were pegged back once again on 90 minutes when a Northampton corner seemed to come off a City player and end up in the back of the net meaning the points were shared.

Grecians boss Matt Taylor made four changes to the side that was eliminated from the FA Cup last week by Blackpool, with Christy Pym making his return to the starting line-up, alongside Lee Holmes, while Aaron Martin and Tristan Abrahams kept their places in the starting 11 from the midweek win over Bristol Rovers in the Checkatrade Trophy.

It was City that edged a tight opening quarter of an hour, and first came close when a corner routine saw Lee Holmes’ cross-turned-shot hit the post. However, the Grecians were not to be denied a few moments later, as skipper Taylor surged into space on the inside-right flank of the Northampton penalty area and fired past David Cornell in the Cobblers’ goal with 16 minutes on the clock.

A lively Tristan Abrahams threatened to double the home side’s lead five minutes later, running onto Jayden Stockley’s header, but Cornell closed the angle down well and made the save. It acted as a catalyst for the visitors to grow into the game, and they were soon level through Waters – the visitors broke at speed, and after a great block by Nicky Law from Sam Hoskins’ initial effort, the ball rebounded and fell kindly for Waters, who bundled over from close range.

Only a superb save from Christy Pym prevented the visitors from then taking the lead as a delicate ball was lofted into van Veen, and while his header was powerful, it was straight enough for Pym to get down and make a great reaction save, before Aaron Martin cleared the danger. As the game opened up, there were more chances at both ends when Holmes’ effort from the left-hand side of the penalty area arrowed narrowly wide of Cornell’s far post, before Stockley fired agonisingly wide from just outside the area.

Stockley then made amends just before half-time after a spell of prolonged pressure. Pierce Sweeney’s rasping effort was blocked spectacularly, though City recycled possession, eventually finding Woodman on the other flank, and his cross to the back post was met by Stockley, who headed back across the goalkeeper and into the far corner.

The influential Nicky Law was again involved soon after the restart, shooting from just outside the box with a deflected effort that looked like it would loop over Cornell’s outstretched hand, but it somehow landed wide and the visitors escaped again.

City were then required to defend a flurry of Northampton corners, though threatened to break clear when Forte latched onto a clearance before he was cynically taken down by Shay Facey. It was a period where Northampton probed, but were unable to find a way through the resolute City backline, and the Grecians always looked lively in possession.

The Grecians then had a golden chance to put the game to bed, as substitute Chiedozie Ogbene broke down the right-wing and cut the ball back to Stockley, but his effort flew wide from just inside the area with just under 20 minutes to go.

Chances were again coming at both ends – Hoskins fired wide from inside the area with less than five minutes to go – but there was a cruel twist late in the tale for City. A Northampton corner in the 90^th minute was met by Andy Williams, and the header took a cruel deflection off Jayden Stockley and nestled in the back of the City net. It proved to be the last meaningful action in an eventful game that City will be disappointed they couldn’t come away with more.

EXETER: CITY: Pym; Sweeney, A Martin, O’Shea, Woodman; Holmes (Ogbene 77), Tillson, Taylor, Law; Abrahams (Forte 72), Stockley.

Subs not used: Hamon, Jay, Oates, Croll, Collins.

Booked:

NORTHAMPTON Town: Cornell, Buchanan, Odoffin (Taylor 45), Hoskins, van Veen (A Williams 71), Powell, Pierre, McWilliams, Turnbull (Facey 45), Waters, O’Toole.

Subs not used: Ward (GK), Bridge, Roberts, J Williams.

Booked: Pierre, Facey

Attendance: 4,332 (329 away)

3: Southend United

Southend suffered a third successive league defeat as a late Armand Gnanduillet header secured a 2-1 win for Blackpool at Roots Hall.

Blues went close early on when Michael Kightly hit the inside of the post after a mistake by goalkeeper Mark Howard before Oliver Turton put Blackpool ahead, thumping in a low cross from Marc Bola inside quarter of an hour.

Blackpool almost doubled their advantage early in the second-half when Jay Spearing rattled the crossbar with a deflected effort before the Tangerines captain went close again, curling the ball wide while unmarked on the edge of the area.

Southend would capitalise on that missed opportunity by levelling when Jason Demetriou stooped low to head in Timothee Dieng’s cross, but Blues were undone again when Gnanduillet rose to head in Harry Pritchard’s cross for the winner.

Minutes after Gnanduillet’s header, Blues were reduced to 10 men as Michael Turner was shown a straight red card for an apparent stamp on a Blackpool player as Southend were unable to prevent a third straight league defeat.    

Once again, Blackpool had proven how hard they were to get past on the road – having only lost once away in the league prior to their trip to Roots Hall – and Chris Powell must now pick his side up for Tuesday night’s Emirates FA Cup replay at Crawley Town.

Going into this afternoon’s game, Southend had been lifted somewhat by their midweek Checkatrade win over Southampton following three games without a win and they were gifted a chance to take the lead after a mix-up at the back by the visitors early on.

Goalkeeper Mark Howard’s attempted clearance hit a Blackpool defender allowing Michael Kightly to nip in and, with the goalie off his line, the winger’s lob had Howard well beaten only for the ball to come off the inside of the post and away for a huge let off for the visitors.

Terry McPhillips’ side would take advantage of that good piece of fortune and would make the breakthrough before the quarter-hour mark when full-back Oliver Turton got on the end of a low ball into the box by Marc Bola, powering the ball home from close range to put Blackpool in front.

Blues responded well to early set-back and Stephen Hendrie went close with a low drive that went just wide of Howard's post before Harry Bunn picked out Simon Cox in the area only for the striker’s glancing header to also go wide.

Southend were dealt a blow when Dru Yearwood was forced off injured after half an hour, being replaced by Shawn McCoulsky, but despite the change of personnel and shape, Blues were unable to trouble Howard in the Blackpool goal going into the half-time interval.

After a scrappy first-half which Blackpool had edged, the visitors went within a whisker of doubling the lead early in the second-half after Jay Spearing’s rasping effort from distance took a huge deflection before rattling the underside of the crossbar.

The Blues were in desperate need of a lift and the noise around Roots Hall rose when Kightly’s cross was only cleared as far as Hendrie. The full-back chested the ball down before firing a half-volley towards goal which needed tipping over the bar by Howard.

Southend continued to push forward and had a half shout for a penalty waved away when Harry Bunn went down inside the area before Spearing had the chance to quash Blues’ momentum by shooting just wide when unmarked on the edge of the Southend box.

If Spearing had hit the target it would have been curtains for Blues, but instead Chris Powell’s side immediately went up the other end and grabbed an equaliser. Timothee Dieng’s looping cross found the run of Jason Demetriou who stooped to head Southend level with 15 minutes to go.

Having worked so hard to get back level, Southend’s tendency to concede late goals came back to haunt them once more when Armand Gnanduillet nodded Blackpool back in front. The striker rose highest to get to Harry Pritchard’s cross, beating Oxley from 12-yards out.

Minutes after going behind a second time, Southend’s task of salvaging a point were all but ended when they were reduced to 10 men after Michael Turner appeared to stamp on a Blackpool player, leaving the referee with no choice but to show the centre-back a straight red card.

Blackpool comfortably held out for their fourth straight win in all competitions, condemning Blues to a third straight defeat in the league ahead of Tuesday night’s Emirates FA Cup replay away at Crawley Town.

Blues XI: Oxley, Turner, Kightly (McLaughlin 74’), Dieng, Cox, Yearwood (McCoulsky 31’), Mantom (C), Moore, Demetriou, Bunn, Hendrie (Robinson 87’). Subs Not Used: Bishop, Bwomono, Hyam, McLaughlin, Kyprianou

Blackpool XI: Howard, Daniels, Heneghan, Delfouneso, Spearing (C), Dodoo (Nottingham 70’), Tilt, Turton, Gnaduillet, Guy (Pritchard 60’), Bola. Subs Not Used: Boney, Cullen, O’Sullivan, Taylor, Feeney

Referee: Nicholas Kinseley

Assistants: Marc Wilson & Richard Kendall

Fourth Official: Geoffrey Russell

Scorers:

Southend United: Jason Demetriou 74’

Blackpool: Oliver Turton 14’

Yellow Cards:

Southend United: None

Blackpool: None

Red Cards:

Southend United: Michael Turner 85’

Blackpool: None

Attendance: 6,882 (241 Away)

Ebbsfleet United Theme Park

Check this out.

Financial Problems for Ebbsfleet

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.