WEST COUNTRY FOOTBALL

All Greek To Me.

– Wednesday 18th October 2023
– 16:00 Kick Off
– Attendance: ~200
– Distance Travelled: n/a
– Full Photo Gallery

– EPS Heraklion – A1 Category
– Municipal Stadium, Hersonissos, Crete
– Weather: Sunny and Warm
– Admission: €5
– Programme: none

Intro

From the moment we booked our holiday in Crete I was on the lookout for a game to go to. Most leagues seemed to begin in September or October, presumably to avoid the searing heat of the summer. My visit coincided with an international break so a visit to the island’s main team OFI – based in Heraklion, the main city – was off the cards as they compete in the top division in Greece. Giouchtas, one of two island teams in the second tier, were playing the day after we arrived. Ordinarily they would play their games in the outskirts of Heraklion but this season they appear to be hosting games in the southern town of Ierapetra. A technicality meant that this was out of the question for me. Similarly a visit to Agios Nikolaos of the Gamma Ethniki (3rd tier) was off the cards. So I had to dig deeper. The 4th tier is split into many regional divisions, and information on match information is sketchy at best. Fortunately the league local to where I was staying is one of the few with a working website and I was able to be fairly certain that this match was taking place as planned!

Call it a Draw.

– Tuesday 22nd August 2023
– 19:45 Kick Off
– Attendance: 32
– Distance Travelled: 42 miles
– Full Photo Gallery

– Western League – Division One
– BTRA Sports Ground, Bristol
– Weather: Sunny, mild.
– Admission: £6
– Programme: £1

Intro

Saturday saw Bristol Telephones beat Hallen 1-0 in an away win that was the latest result in a topsy-turvy beginning to the season for the south Bristol club. Currently 8th in the league, the Phones have won 4 and lost 3 of their 7 games so far. A home win over Odd Down was swiftly followed by a 4-3 loss to Cribbs Reserves as the season began with a bang. A slightly concerning loss to struggling Gillingham Town is probably the low point of the season so far.

League newcomers Middlezoy Rovers – who won the Somerset County League last season – started life in the National League System with two wins. A 4-1 win away at Hallen gave them the perfect beginning and they followed that up with a 1-0 win over Bishop Sutton in south Somerset. They were brought back down to Earth with a couple of defeats to Bradford Town and Portishead Town, before beating Cadbury Heath. Their last game, at the weekend, was a 1-0 loss to Shirehampton, and Rovers currently lie in 12th position.

Border Control.

– Saturday 19th August 2023
– 14:00 Kick Off
– Attendance: ~110
– Distance Travelled: 74 miles
– Full Photo Gallery

– Welsh Cup – 2nd Qualifying Round
– Larkfield Park, Chepstow
– Weather: Sunny spells
– Admission: £6
– Programme: Free

Intro

These two teams coincidentally faced each other just 4 days ago as they played out a 2-2 draw over at Ystrad Mynach in the Ardal League South East. Last weekend Chepstow conceded an injury time equaliser to draw in the local derby at home to Caldicot Town. Before that they won their first two league games of the season – 4-1 at home to Hay St Mary’s, followed by a 4-3 away win at Blaenavon Blues. To reach this stage of the Welsh Cup, Chepstow beat Wattsville FC 3-2 at home back at the end of July.

Risca’s season has been a bit of a rollercoaster so far: close-sounding losses to Undy AFC and Newport City either side of a convincing win over Brecon Corries, mean they will need to find some consistency if they want to replicate last season’s good showing which culminated in a promotion play-off loss to Baglan Dragons. Risca seemingly received a bye to this round of the Cup and so will look to kick off in this competition on the right foot.

Rocky Road.

– Sunday 6th August 2023
– 14:00 Kick Off
– Attendance: ~45
– Distance Travelled: 54 miles
– Full Photo Gallery

– Preseason Friendly
– Cockrams, Shaftesbury
– Weather: Sunny Spells
– Admission: Free
– Programme: N/A

Intro

An impressive 22/23 season in the Dorset Women’s League in which they only lost 2 games, means promotion to tier 6 for Shaftesbury. They’ll be playing in the Eastern Division of the South West Regional Leagues for the new campaign. Today’s opponents will compete in the level above: the Southern Region Football League Premier Division. Seemingly spared relegation last season despite finishing at the bottom of the pile with just the 2 wins to their name. Winchester City Flyers will be looking for an improved performance in 23/24.

Green About The Gills.

– Saturday 5th August 2023
– 15:00 Kick Off
– Attendance: 32
– Distance Travelled: 49 miles
– Full Photo Gallery

– Western League – Division One
– Woodwater Lane, Gillingham
– Weather: Rain
– Admission: £6.50
– Programme: £1

Intro

An inauspicious start to the burgeoning season has seen Gillingham Town lose both of their 2 matches so far, conceding 4 goals on both occasions. The Gills hosted Shirehampton on the opening day and lost 4-0, while midweek they travelled west to Cheddar and fared little better – a 4-1 loss this time.

Cadbury Heath travel down from Bristol today looking to continue their quest for an immediate return to the Premier Division of the Western League. The opening day of the season had the Heath visit Portishead; the hosts won that close encounter 1-0. The Bristol club then won a 5 goal thriller in midweek over last season’s 3rd place finishers Wells City.

High Time.

– Saturday 22nd July 2023
– 15:00 Kick Off
– Attendance: ~60
– Distance Travelled: 88 miles
– Full Photo Gallery

– Preseason Friendly
– The Elms, Highworth
– Weather: Rain
– Admission: £5
– Programme: N/A

Intro

Highworth Town were relegated from the Southern League Division One Central at the end of last season, after a disastrous end to the campaign in which they won only one of their last 12 matches. As a result they find themselves in the Premier Division of the Hellenic League for the 2023/24 season and will hope to make an immediate return to Step 4. Preseason has so far seen Highworth lose to new League rivals Cinderford Town, before a 2-2 draw at home to a youthful Swindon Town XI. Their latest friendly saw them take on Devizes Town at home which ended in a 1-1 stalemate.

I’m not ashamed to say that I wasn’t sure where Wallingford OR Crowmarsh (Gifford) was, before discovering – with the help of a certain online map – they are both located in Oxfordshire, each one either side of the Thames just east of Didcot. The football team plies its trade in the Combined Counties League Premier Division North, finishing in 10th position (out of 21) last time out. They finished the season strongly, losing just one of the final 8 games, including two convincing wins over London Lions who were similarly placed in the table.

Release the Hounds!

– Saturday 8th July 2023
– 14:00 Kick Off
– Attendance: ~15
– Distance Travelled: 5 miles
– Full Photo Gallery

– Preseason Friendly
– Whaddon Lane, Hilperton
– Weather: Cloudy, light rain showers
– Admission: Free
– Programme: N/A

Intro

Semington went last season without a team representing the village, with Trowbridge Town’s Development side using their Little Marsh pitch for their home matches. The Magpies are back for the 2023/24 season and will take part in the Trowbridge & District League (TDFL) Division 2. 2021/22 ended in a respectable 4th place in Division 1 for Semington; a season during which I saw them thrash Heytesbury FC 5-0 just before Christmas.

Today’s hosts had a disappointing 22/23 season; finishing one off the bottom of the TDFL Division 2. Only thanks to a disastrous season for Staverton Rangers did they avoid finishing bottom. A campaign to forget saw the Greyhounds only managing wins against teams around them in the league, and suffering some heavy defeats along the way.

Clutton For Punishment.

CLUTTON FC 0 – 3 CHILCOMPTON SPORTS

– Saturday 6th May 2023
– 15:00 Kick Off
– Attendance: c54
– Full Photo Gallery

– Somerset County League – Premier Division
– Warwick Fields, Clutton
– Weather: Overcast, Mild
– Admission: Free

Intro

Somerset County League champions Chilcompton Sports stormed to the league title, only losing 2 games along the way, and will beat Wells City Reserves to top spot by at least 10 points. Bizarrely Sports got off to a terrible start; losing 5-0 to Clevedon United on the opening day of the campaign, but then didn’t lose again in the league until April. They are also on course for a double as they will face off against Middlezoy Rovers in the final of the League Cup on Wednesday coming.

Clutton will need to beat Watchet Town next weekend to ensure their place in the Premier Division next season. A victory would send former Western League side Chard Town down to Division One in their place. In midweek The Swans managed a hard-fought and much needed 1-0 win over Fry Club. Before that they suffered heavy defeats to nil against Ilminster Town, Wells Reserves and Stockwood Wanderers. Oddly, the 6-0 loss to Stockwood came directly after Clutton won the reverse fixture 3 days earlier.

Blue in the Face.

BRITON FERRY LLANSAWEL LADIES 0 – 4 CARDIFF CITY WOMEN

– Sunday 23rd April 2023
– 12:45 Kick Off
– Attendance: 515
– Full Photo Gallery

– FAW Women’s Cup Final
– Penydarren Park, Merthyr Tydfil
– Weather: Overcast, Rain, Sun
– Admission: £7

Intro

I saved the show piece game till last this weekend. When I saw that the Final would coincide with my weekend in Wales, I kept an eye out for the announcement of where the game would take place. Imagine my delight when it was decided it would be barely 15 minutes drive from where I was staying! The final sees the meeting of the champions of the top two leagues in Wales. Cardiff City are the current best team in Wales after winning the Adran Premier, while Briton Ferry are reigning champions of the Adran South. The Bluebirds secured their place in the Final by beating City rivals Cardiff Met at this very stadium. Briton Ferry had a tougher semi final on paper; facing Adran Premier side Aberystwyth Town in Carmarthen. However they made light work of this task, beating the higher league side 3-0.

Set The Bar High.

AFC BARGOED 3 – 2 CHURCH VILLAGE FC

– Saturday 22nd April 2023
– 14:00 Kick Off
– Attendance: c.14
– Full Photo Gallery

– Taff Ely & Rhymney Valley League – Premier Division
– Bargoed Park, Bargoed
– Weather: Overcast, Cold
– Admission: Free

Intro

The Taff Ely & Rhymney Valley League Premier Division is at the 7th Tier of Welsh football. Promotion from this league would see teams, dependent presumably on geographical location, enter the South Wales Alliance League amongst others.

The TERV Premier Division has 12 participants this season and AFC Bargoed are currently in 6th place. Their last game was actually against today’s opponents on Monday evening and ended in a 1-0 to Bargoed. Prior to that a decent draw against 4th place Cilfynydd was sandwiched between losses to top side Talbot Green and bottom side Rhydyfelin Non Pol.

Church Village FC are a few places lower than AFC Bargoed, lying in 9th position currently. Three losses in a row is not ideal preparation for this match, however one of those was a 3-2 defeat at the hands of league leaders Talbot Green which suggests a strong showing from Church Village.