The Non - League thread

[NathStPaul]

The guy from Epson and Ewel FC who got sent off, went mental and punched 3 players and grabbed the referee was their player manager. He was 10 years older at least then the rest of the players and apparently played before under a fake name as was already banned once.

It’s now a police matter. Thug of the highest order.

Not clear that he did actually attack the referee from the video. The Club Reporter / Historian (a really good / straight guy) certainly suggests he did not.

Penfold played a few games for Windsor 9 years ago but I don’t remember him as being burly and aggressive back then.

It looked at worst like jostling, still can't behave like that though. Can see him getting an extremely heavy ban and hopefully a suspended sentence.

[paultheroyal]

The guy from Epson and Ewel FC who got sent off, went mental and punched 3 players and grabbed the referee was their player manager. He was 10 years older at least then the rest of the players and apparently played before under a fake name as was already banned once.

It’s now a police matter. Thug of the highest order.

Not clear that he did actually attack the referee from the video. The Club Reporter / Historian (a really good / straight guy) certainly suggests he did not.

Penfold played a few games for Windsor 9 years ago but I don’t remember him as being burly and aggressive back then.

I don’t think he hit the referee either but he was certainly attempting too. However he swung a number of punches which did connect with the opposition and only one of those players need to press charges and he’s in trouble.

[Not Double D]

100%

[Royals and Racers]

If anyone is desperate to see a game today Holmer Green v Risborough Rangers is on tonight KO 7.45pm

Didn`t go but convincing away win for the league leaders 6-0 !! who are unbeaten after 19 matches.

[Four Of Clubs]

If anyone is desperate to see a game today Holmer Green v Risborough Rangers is on tonight KO 7.45pm

Didn`t go but convincing away win for the league leaders 6-0 !! who are unbeaten after 19 matches.

Thought about it (very briefly) but it was too wet 'n horrible and I knew it would be ritual slaughter - nice ground though, been several times -
- got abandoned for Hail on my last visit very cozy bar - sometimes have skittles on too which makes it lively.

...and the visitors had a certain local marksman 'late' of several clubs up front last night - seems to have been around forever ..... and grabbing a hat-trick - Marcus Mealing

....in no particular order (and I'm sure to have missed a few) he's turned out for :
Thatcham, Chertsey, Thame United, Egham Town, Walton Casuals, Tring Athletic, Colney Heath, Marlow (where I think he's played the most and periodically returns) , Hanwell Town and even played twice for Bracknell Town in 2019.

[Royals and Racers]

Narrowed down tomorrow’s match to either
Thatcham v Marlow or Westfield v Bracknell- probably end up at Thatcham.

[Four Of Clubs]

Narrowed down tomorrow’s match to either
Thatcham v Marlow or Westfield v Bracknell- probably end up at Thatcham.

Saw the 2nd fixture above just before COVID in early Feb 2020 - back then the result constituted a minor surprise - 0-2 win for the 'Robins' who subsequently appeared to be finishing the season the stronger of the two and may well have made the POs again
- they'd beaten 'Field' in the previous seasons' S-Fs but lost 0-3 to Cheshunt in the Final.

...currently left with just 2 feasible 'new ticks' for tomorrow (NYD) and games are dropping fast again - not sure about the weather forecast - I believe it is set to be fair - any more rain though and there'll be even less on - notwithstanding the VIDS.

Here's the NL fixtures involving local sides for tomorrow and Sunday:

Saturday 1st January 2022

SLP-C
Alvechurch v Banbury United
- might make a stab at seeing the league leaders here - would 'complete' the division for me and only leave a few further flung SW clubs with Dorchester, Barnstaple and Plymouth Parkway, to complete the SL
- though I now need to 'revisit' Wimborne - the b&ggars moved to a new ground - reportedly with worse drainage than the old one and that's saying something, for those who've visited the 'Cuthbury'

SLP-S
13:00 Chesham United v Hayes & Yeading United
Hartley Wintney v Farnborough
Hendon v Kings Langley
Walton Casuals v Harrow Borough
SL1-C
Berkhamsted v Aylesbury United
Didcot Town v North Leigh
Kidlington v Wantage Town
13:00 Thame United v AFC Dunstable
SL1-S
Highworth Town v Cirencester Town
Lymington Town v Winchester City

IL-P
Corinthian-Casuals v Carshalton Athletic
Leatherhead v Kingstonian
IL1-SC
Bedfont Sports v Chertsey Town
Chalfont St Peter v Uxbridge
Thatcham Town v Marlow
Westfield v Bracknell Town

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday 2nd Jan
Boreham Wood v Barnet
Dagenham & Redbridge v Dover Athletic
Eastleigh v Weymouth
Maidenhead United v Wealdstone
Woking v Aldershot Town
NATN
Kettering Town v Brackley Town
NATS
Bath City v Chippenham Town
Braintree Town v Chelmsford City
Concord Rangers v Billericay Town
Dulwich Hamlet v Welling United
Ebbsfleet United v Dartford
Havant & Waterlooville v Dorking Wanderers
Maidstone United v Tonbridge Angels
13:00 Slough Town v Oxford City
13:00 St Albans City v Hemel Hempstead Town

[Four Of Clubs]

..quick round-up of today's NL games:

Saturday 1st January 2022

SLP-C
Alvechurch 0-2 Banbury United – att 564
- Fairly trouble-free trip up a quite M40 and across lower Brum on the M42 (W) - town is north of Redditch.
- arr 30 mins before KO. They had sold out of progs by that time . Did get a badge from behind the bar.
- Fairly standard ‘old-style’ suburban ‘stadium’: bit rickety plenty of decent view points around the terraces, small ish seated stand small car park full long before KO but lots of main road verge parking available.
- They are due to move out of Lye Meadow to a new sports complex presumably a bit nearer the town.
- Bar was a bit cramped for serving this of size of crowd but plenty of seats inside and only 1 food van which seemed to cope admirably with supply.
- close fought 1st half with 5th placed hosts, matching the leaders with grit and determination on a sticky surface.
- 2nd half Banbury upped the pace; threw on more forwards and began to open up the home defence – running out comfortable and deserved winners. Easy to see why they are top at this level - not sure if promotion will necessarily benefit them short-term particularly if they find themselves 'slung into' the National North like their close (and more southerly) neighbours Brackley?

SLP-S
Chesham United 2-1 Hayes & Yeading United -att 627 - 4 defeats in 6 now for HandY
Hartley Wintney 0-1 Farnborough -att 805 – Hodges with the only goal early in the 2nd half
Hendon 0-2 Kings Langley
Walton Casuals 2-1 Harrow Borough
SL1-C
Berkhamsted 3-1 Aylesbury United
Didcot Town 1-4 North Leigh - att 387 –'Diddy' levelled on 70’ then promptly caved in and shipped 3 more goals to Nor Lye
Kidlington 3-2 Wantage Town – att 148 – ‘Freds’ fought back from 2 down to level but fell to an 83’ winner
Thame United 1-1 AFC Dunstable
SL1-S
Highworth Town 1-3 Cirencester Town – att 312 – ‘Worthians’ beaten by 2nd placed Ciren
Lymington Town 0-1 Winchester City ‘Winch' still chasing a PO spot win it with a 10th minute goal form Mlambo and stay 6th

IL-P
Corinthian-Casuals 2-1 Carshalton Athletic
Leatherhead 2-3 Kingstonian
IL1-SC
Bedfont Sports 1-1 Chertsey Town – 2nd placed ‘Curfews’ salvage a point in stoppage time
Chalfont St Peter P-P Uxbridge
Thatcham Town 0-2 Marlow – att 203 - 2 goals in the last 10’ for ‘Blues’ from Devontae Romeo puts them 4th with games in hand.
Westfield 0-2 Bracknell Town – att 210– 1st half goals form Herbert and Moore stretch ‘Robins’ lead at the top to 14 points.

[Royals and Racers]

Maidenhead off- Covid at Wealdstone

[Four Of Clubs]

NL Results from today (Sunday 2nd) :

Sunday 2nd January 2022
NAT
Boreham Wood 0-0 Barnet
Dagenham & Redbridge 3-1 Dover Athletic
Eastleigh 3-2 Weymouth – att 2,839 – ‘Spitfires’ played 2nd half with 10 men, following dismissal of Hesketh just before the break. Went two goals up with 25’ still to play, before the Terras fought back to level by 88’ , only for Danny Whitehall to win it on 93’

Woking 2-3 Aldershot Town – att 5,171 - Sh!ts fight back from 1-2 down @ Kingfield - very late goals on 88’ & 94’
NATN
Kettering Town 3-1 Brackley Town – 'Saints' stay top as 2nd placed Gateshead are beaten at Blyth
NATS
Bath City 2-0 Chippenham Town
Braintree Town P-P Chelmsford City
Concord Rangers 0-0 Billericay Town
Dulwich Hamlet 0-1 Welling United att 3,334
Ebbsfleet United 1-0 Dartford
Havant & Waterlooville 1-3 Dorking Wanderers
Maidstone United 2-0 Tonbridge Angels
Slough Town 2-2 Oxford City
- was at this - quite a thriller –closely rivalled the return fixture on Boxing day which City edged 3-2.
- City led from around the half hour mark but the ‘Rebels’ forced themselves into the lead inside the last 20’ following 2 set plays - only for the visitors to level shortly after - just about a fair result.
Elsewhere wins for Maidstone and Ebbsfleet see the visitors here drop to third.

St Albans City 1-3 Hemel Hempstead Town

[Royals and Racers]

Chance to do a Bank holiday double tomorrow after the Royals v Derby clash, Beaconsfield Town are home to the Met Police KO 7.45pm.

[Four Of Clubs]

Chance to do a Bank holiday double tomorrow after the Royals v Derby clash, Beaconsfield Town are home to the Met Police KO 7.45pm.

...and at at a pinch you might even a manage a 'treble' if you went to Ash Utd v Fleet Spurs in Wessex One at Noon?

...Berks County v Chalvey in CCL1 at Binfield is listed as an evening KO too ...... that'll need checking though as the site often shows default KOs for midweek games regardless of BH status.

[Royals and Racers]

Chance to do a Bank holiday double tomorrow after the Royals v Derby clash, Beaconsfield Town are home to the Met Police KO 7.45pm.

...and at at a pinch you might even a manage a 'treble' if you went to Ash Utd v Fleet Spurs in Wessex One at Noon?

...Berks County v Chalvey in CCL1 at Binfield is listed as an evening KO too ...... that'll need checking though as the site often shows default KOs for midweek games regardless of BH status.

Just checked and Berks County is definitely 7.45pm.

[Four Of Clubs]

Just checked and Berks County is definitely 7.45pm.

...yeah - I saw that later on a re-tweet from Chalvey - BC had been posting a 15:00 KO time earlier in the week but have now corrected it.

...here's the line-up of tomorrow's games involving local sides....

Monday 3rd January 2022

NATS
Hungerford Town v Hampton & Richmond Borough

ILP
Folkestone Invicta v Leatherhead
Horsham v Corinthian-Casuals

IL1-SC
Ashford Town (Middx) v South Park
Basingstoke Town v Westfield
Bracknell Town v Staines Town
Chertsey Town v Sutton Common Rovers
Marlow v Binfield
Tooting & Mitcham United v Hanwell Town
Uxbridge v Thatcham Town

SLP-C
Redditch United v Banbury United
SLP-S
19:45 Beaconsfield Town v Metropolitan Police

CCL-PN
North Greenford United P-P Edgware Town - waterlogged
Wembley v Spelthorne Sports
CCL-PS
13:00 Cobham v Banstead Athletic
14:00 Sheerwater v Beckenham Town
Fleet Town v Guildford City
Walton & Hersham v Redhill
CCL-1
Bagshot v Sandhurst Town @ Camberley
Bedfont & Feltham v British Airways
Eversley & California v Cove
Kensington & Ealing Borough v Hillingdon Borough @ Hanwell
London Samurai Rovers v AFC Hayes @ Hanworth Villa
Woodley United P-P AFC Aldermaston waterlogged
19:45 Berks County v Chalvey Sports

HELL-P
Bradford Town Royal Wootton Bassett Town
Shrivenham v Fairford Town
HELL-1
Cheltenham Saracens P-P Milton United - waterlogged
Hereford Pegasus v Abingdon United

SSMP
Aylesbury Vale Dynamos P-P Leighton Town - waterlogged
Harefield United v Flackwell Heath
Leverstock Green v Holmer Green
Risborough Rangers v Tring Athletic
SSM-1
Amersham Town v Penn & Tylers Green
Buckingham Athletic v Long Crendon
Kidlington Reserves v Winslow United

WESS-P
13:00 Alton v Alresford Town
WESS-1
12:00 Ash United v Fleet Spurs
Andover New Street v Whitchurch United
Petersfield Town v Andover Town

[Four Of Clubs]

...and today's results - incl this evening's scores (if the official site is correct)

Monday 3rd January 2022

NATS
Hungerford Town 3-0 Hampton & Richmond Borough – 2 from Seager and one from Tyler steers 'Crusaders' back up to 7th

ILP
Folkestone Invicta 3-0 Leatherhead
Horsham 1-1 Corinthian-Casuals

IL1-SC
Ashford Town (Middx) 2-1 South Park
Basingstoke Town 2-2 Westfield att 824
Bracknell Town 3-1 Staines Town att 353 – Bowerman hat-trick
Chertsey Town 2-0 Sutton Common Rovers
Marlow 3-0 Binfield att 320 – hat-trick from Nwachuku in the last ½ hour buries the 'Moles'
Tooting & Mitcham United 0-2 Hanwell Town
Uxbridge 3-2 Thatcham Town

SLP-C
Redditch United 0-2 Banbury United ‘Puritans’ go 14 points clear.
SLP-S
EVE Beaconsfield Town 2-2 Metropolitan Police

CCL-PN
Wembley 3-2 Spelthorne Sports
CCL-PS
Cobham 2-2 Banstead Athletic
Sheerwater 3-2 Beckenham Town
Fleet Town 3-2 Guildford City
Walton & Hersham 1-0 Redhill - 1st edges past 2nd, thanks to a 90th minute penalty
CCL-1
Bagshot 2-2 Sandhurst Town
Bedfont & Feltham 3-0 British Airways
Eversley & California 4-1 Cove
Kensington & Ealing Borough 4-1 Hillingdon Borough
London Samurai Rovers 3-2 AFC Hayes
EVE Berks County 2-1 Chalvey Sports

HELL-P
Bradford Town 4-0 Royal Wootton Bassett Town
Shrivenham 3-1 Fairford Town
HELL-1
Hereford Pegasus 3-1 Abingdon United

SSMP
Harefield United 1-5 Flackwell Heath – att 265 – ‘Heathens slowly progressing now up to 8th
Leverstock Green 1-2 Holmer Green – very surprising and very welcome win for Holmer G, against 5th placed Leverstock
- their first three pointer since early October.

Risborough Rangers 1-0 Tring Athletic - Rangers now 10 points clear of 2nd placed Leighton – whose game was called off - and they still have 2 games in hand
SSM-1
Amersham Town 1-1 Penn & Tylers Green
Buckingham Athletic 1-0 Long Crendon
Kidlington Reserves 0-6 Winslow United

WESS-P
Alton 5-3 Alresford Town - att 281
WESS-1
Ash United 3-0 Fleet Spurs – att 227
Andover New Street 2-0 Whitchurch United – att 240
Petersfield Town 3-2 Andover Town – att 163

- Big crowds out and about down at STEP06 in this division – I think everyone drew in three figures today
- - leaders Bemerton Heath beat Laverstock & Ford from across the other side of the City (Salisbury) in front of over 300 to capitalize on Andover Town’s slip at Petersfield’s Love Lane.
- In the Premier both Moneyfields and Fareham pulled in over 500

[NathStPaul]

Are attendances always that high at Basingstoke? Impressive numbers.

[Four Of Clubs]

Are attendances always that high at Basingstoke? Impressive numbers.

2nd highest average in the division (behind Guernsey who have a somewhat niche/captive audience) - just over 500 and an increase of close to 60% on last season's - and are ahead of 3rd best by some margin

Next in line are Chertsey (416) and Bracknell (390) - with quite a gap back to Hanwell and Binfield

...nice to see Marlow's crowds picking up but they started from a traditionally low level - too many locals around there have a tendency to nip up to Wycombe or over to Slough/Maidenhead. Nonetheless they are now nudging the 200 average.

Interesting (maybe) that near neighbours Flackwell's crowds have also increased considerably in 21-22, following a move over to the South Mids league.

Another swing of note at Bedfont Sports also up over 60% on last term.

In this division there are some surprising falls in recorded crowd levels for example at Tooting & Mitcham & Uxbridge - who are doing well on
the field.

May yet see a crowd of four figures - more than likely to be at Guernsey of course, who got over 900 for the visit of Sutton Common in early October - probably inflated somewhat as it was actually the start of their much delayed campaign.

[NathStPaul]

Are attendances always that high at Basingstoke? Impressive numbers.

2nd highest average in the division (behind Guernsey who have a somewhat niche/captive audience) - just over 500 and an increase of close to 60% on last season's - and are ahead of 3rd best by some margin

Next in line are Chertsey (416) and Bracknell (390) - with quite a gap back to Hanwell and Binfield

...nice to see Marlow's crowds picking up but they started from a traditionally low level - too many locals around there have a tendency to nip up to Wycombe or over to Slough/Maidenhead. Nonetheless they are now nudging the 200 average.

Interesting (maybe) that near neighbours Flackwell's crowds have also increased considerably in 21-22, following a move over to the South Mids league.

Another swing of note at Bedfont Sports also up over 60% on last term.

In this division there are some surprising falls in recorded crowd levels for example at Tooting & Mitcham & Uxbridge - who are doing well on
the field.

May yet see a crowd of four figures - more than likely to be at Guernsey of course, who got over 900 for the visit of Sutton Common in early October - probably inflated somewhat as it was actually the start of their much delayed campaign.

Further proof that in our region at least many are disenfranchised with elite level football. I think the only good thing to come from COVID is the increased attendances for non-league sides. A lot of people (me included) just didn't miss spending £30-£50 on a Saturday afternoon. At the same time they realised just how much their local side needs them to survive.

[Royals and Racers]

Off to Chesham FC tonight to see the Ducks from Aylesbury play Welwyn GC KO 7.45pm

[Royalist]

Further proof that in our region at least many are disenfranchised with elite level football. I think the only good thing to come from COVID is the increased attendances for non-league sides. A lot of people (me included) just didn't miss spending £30-£50 on a Saturday afternoon. At the same time they realised just how much their local side needs them to survive.

Not sure this area is as strongly supported. Look at the crowds some of the northern premier league and below levels get and it's higher than around Berkshire. I don't particularly think it's a football hotbed in terms of actually going to games anyway.