LondonOrn
Active Member
This is mainly addressed to those who support clubs above Step 2 (but fans of Step 2 and lower are certainly welcome to respond) but has anyone been to any games of this level?
I've been to quite a few but not for a while, mostly play-off finals. The one I enjoyed the most was the 2008/09 Conference South p/o final between Hampton & Richmond and Hayes & Yeading, which Hayes won 3-2. I found it a surprisingly good game of football considering the standard I was expecting for that level, action-packed from start to finish and showed that even well down the pyramid teams are capable of playing football other than scrappy kick-and-rush, with Hayes passing the ball nicely on the ground. Hampton's eccentric ground has a lot of character being situated in a really nice affluent part of London as opposed to the usual working class council/industrial estate, and it was nice to go to a good old-fashioned game of football where there was a complete lack of segregation and you could move from one part of the stadium to another. I also had the honour of sitting next to a local radio reporter for Hayes (forget his name or station, but he was really good) and listening to his commentary and chatting to him a bit about non-league football during half time and after the game. More or less full house, with a crowd and atmosphere that would put many League 2 or even 1 games to shame.
Other ones I saw during that period:
Waltham Abbey vs Concord Rangers, Ryman 1 North 2008/09 p/o final - awful game that could only be decided on penalties to Abbey after a drab and directionless 0-0, no surprise that they were relegated the following season. Very weird atmosphere too, as far as I could tell there seemed to be only one real fan of either side (a diehard Abbey fan, if there's such a thing), with the rest milling about the pitch on a nice spring day as if it were your average Sunday League kick-off (actually, that's probably an insult to Sunday League on the basis of the game itself), people being more interested in the results of Arsenal, Spurs or West Ham than either team involved. There was a club house where many were watching Soccer Saturday much more than the game, if not the whole time (probably a wise choice TBF).
Bath City 1-0 Woking, Conference South 2009/10 p/o final - not a classic and weirdly like a lot of these big non-league games attracted a fair few Neanderthals mainly just outside the ground who seemed more interested in taunting the away fans than watching the football (and they rightfully got put in their place by the Woking support) but Bath is always worth a visit, nice view of the hilly Somerset surroundings from the stadium, even if I managed to fall prey to the city's extortionate traffic fines after being caught driving through a bus gate twice.
Borehamwood 2-0 Kingstonian, Ryman Premier 2009/10 p/o final - never thought I'd see the day that a game in the 7th tier of English football would have total segregation, but after witnessing the pond life that Borehamwood apparently attract to games of this magnitude on a regular basis (including a sickening assault on Kingstonian's captain Francis Duku by a thug who took exception to Duku committing a professional foul on 'Wood's keeper) it was pretty clear why all this was necessary. The cries from the true K's fans to the home crowd of "Fuck off, you're not real Borehamwood fans, go back to Tottenham") were well merited, even if I doubt many of them were true football fans full stop, at least not of a type that Spurs would be proud to be associated with. Apparently (don't know if it's still the case) 'Wood's ownership is just as shady as some of their "support". Shame as the game itself was a good 'un, with the scoreline failing to do justice to the stream of chances the teams had at both ends.
Workington 1-0 Fleetwood, saw this Conference North promotion six-pointer during a visit to the Lakes at the Easter weekend of the 2009/10 season. Workington were having a surprisingly good season by their normal standards (normally sixth tier strugglers or lower) and Fleetwood were involved with Southport in a tight two-horse race for the title (which Southport won, in part due to Farsley’s expulsion from the league, but Fleetwood regrettably followed through the play-offs). Their stadium is tiny with only two covered stands of no more than bungalow height – hard to believe that this club hosted league football during my lifetime (if not within living memory).
So, how about your experiences? And to keep this thread current, anyone planning on attending, or already been to any games concerning the promotion challengers discussed on this thread?
I've been to quite a few but not for a while, mostly play-off finals. The one I enjoyed the most was the 2008/09 Conference South p/o final between Hampton & Richmond and Hayes & Yeading, which Hayes won 3-2. I found it a surprisingly good game of football considering the standard I was expecting for that level, action-packed from start to finish and showed that even well down the pyramid teams are capable of playing football other than scrappy kick-and-rush, with Hayes passing the ball nicely on the ground. Hampton's eccentric ground has a lot of character being situated in a really nice affluent part of London as opposed to the usual working class council/industrial estate, and it was nice to go to a good old-fashioned game of football where there was a complete lack of segregation and you could move from one part of the stadium to another. I also had the honour of sitting next to a local radio reporter for Hayes (forget his name or station, but he was really good) and listening to his commentary and chatting to him a bit about non-league football during half time and after the game. More or less full house, with a crowd and atmosphere that would put many League 2 or even 1 games to shame.
Other ones I saw during that period:
Waltham Abbey vs Concord Rangers, Ryman 1 North 2008/09 p/o final - awful game that could only be decided on penalties to Abbey after a drab and directionless 0-0, no surprise that they were relegated the following season. Very weird atmosphere too, as far as I could tell there seemed to be only one real fan of either side (a diehard Abbey fan, if there's such a thing), with the rest milling about the pitch on a nice spring day as if it were your average Sunday League kick-off (actually, that's probably an insult to Sunday League on the basis of the game itself), people being more interested in the results of Arsenal, Spurs or West Ham than either team involved. There was a club house where many were watching Soccer Saturday much more than the game, if not the whole time (probably a wise choice TBF).
Bath City 1-0 Woking, Conference South 2009/10 p/o final - not a classic and weirdly like a lot of these big non-league games attracted a fair few Neanderthals mainly just outside the ground who seemed more interested in taunting the away fans than watching the football (and they rightfully got put in their place by the Woking support) but Bath is always worth a visit, nice view of the hilly Somerset surroundings from the stadium, even if I managed to fall prey to the city's extortionate traffic fines after being caught driving through a bus gate twice.
Borehamwood 2-0 Kingstonian, Ryman Premier 2009/10 p/o final - never thought I'd see the day that a game in the 7th tier of English football would have total segregation, but after witnessing the pond life that Borehamwood apparently attract to games of this magnitude on a regular basis (including a sickening assault on Kingstonian's captain Francis Duku by a thug who took exception to Duku committing a professional foul on 'Wood's keeper) it was pretty clear why all this was necessary. The cries from the true K's fans to the home crowd of "Fuck off, you're not real Borehamwood fans, go back to Tottenham") were well merited, even if I doubt many of them were true football fans full stop, at least not of a type that Spurs would be proud to be associated with. Apparently (don't know if it's still the case) 'Wood's ownership is just as shady as some of their "support". Shame as the game itself was a good 'un, with the scoreline failing to do justice to the stream of chances the teams had at both ends.
Workington 1-0 Fleetwood, saw this Conference North promotion six-pointer during a visit to the Lakes at the Easter weekend of the 2009/10 season. Workington were having a surprisingly good season by their normal standards (normally sixth tier strugglers or lower) and Fleetwood were involved with Southport in a tight two-horse race for the title (which Southport won, in part due to Farsley’s expulsion from the league, but Fleetwood regrettably followed through the play-offs). Their stadium is tiny with only two covered stands of no more than bungalow height – hard to believe that this club hosted league football during my lifetime (if not within living memory).
So, how about your experiences? And to keep this thread current, anyone planning on attending, or already been to any games concerning the promotion challengers discussed on this thread?
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