Basildon Town v Shenfield

Basildon Sports and Leisure Ground

Essex Olympian League Division One

March 19, 2016

Ground No 187

IF only Shenfield had been able to field their star player, they'd have had the X factor and really been able to hit the right note.

As it was their recent stellar signing had been injured in only his second appearance for the club a couple of weeks earlier and, in his absence, they crashed 4-2 in a cracker of a match, having fought back to level from being two goals down and had a goal controversially chalked off with the scores all square.

You don't get many star names this far down the pyramid - level 12 - but Shenfield really do have a bloke in their squad you'd take a selfie with or thrust your autograph book towards as he warmed up on the touchline. Albeit someone who found fame for something other than football.

His name? Olly Murs. Yep, the fella who finished second to Geordie Joe McElderry in the 2009 X Factor final, went on to sell millions of records to 30-something housewives and told a poor pop star wannabe she was going home before the results were announced  while presenting the show that made him famous.

Had he been fit for action, however, he'd have approached the ground on the edge of the concrete jungle known as Basildon along a straight, concrete road leading from the new town's industrial and retail park quarter.

And the first thing he'd have seen would be an ugly steel-framed structure that looks like a camouflaged army base. It's actually the Basildon Sports and Leisure Club - it contains the changies, two bar areas and a function room and is actually a good deal more pleasant and welcoming than it looks from the outside.

Having strolled up to the pitchside from the car park without any sign of anyone collecting admission money, I popped into the bar, picked up a free programme and bought a cup of tea ahead of first taste of Essex Olympian League football, thus taking my afternoon's outlay to the grand total of a quid. Bargain or what?

The ground is situated in something of a sporting hub. It's right next to Basildon Rugby Club's home ground - they too were in action in front of a far bigger crowd - and that in turn sits adjacent to The Longman Motors Stadium, home of Essex Senior League club Basildon United who were also playing and, by a stroke of coincidence, also won 4-2. The floodlights from both adjoining grounds are clearly visible.

On the far side are the dug-ours - both wooden and what look like repurposed bus shelters - in front of two other full-size pitches.

To the right is the Post Office Ground - presumably where Basildon's posties play football to keep themselves fit to deliver letters around Vange, Laindon and Pitsea and escape the drooling jaws of homeowners' dogs.

The near side is dominated by the camouflaged army base, sorry I mean the sports and social club, to which access is gained through patio doors, and there's also a small, wooden  covered area, some picnic benches and a kids' playground in front of it.

Basildon's oldest football club won't be the top of your discerning groundhopper's list of venues to visit. But it was only a 10-minute drive from my front door, the game oozed entertainment and screamed value for money. Result.

And if it hadn't been for a sore hammy, I'd have seen a pop star play live too.

Raynes Park Vale Res v Wanderers

Prince George's Fields

Surrey South-East Combination

March 12, 2016

Ground No 186

 

 

**** me, I'm in the first team!

 

That was the first line of the message I received which made up my mind how I'd be spending my Saturday afternoon - being a proud dad watching the lad do his thing at the highest level he'd ever played at.

 

He did alright too! Maybe I'm biased but he didn't look out of place and you wouldn't have known he'd never been near the first team before. Okay, his side got tonked 4-0, but two of those goals were dodgy penalties and Wanderers held their own for long periods.

 

I'll come back to Raynes Park Vale to watch the first team and give it the usual Streetspavedwithgoals treatment in due course but since I was only there to see Wanderers on that occasion, let's throw the spotlight on them.

 

Today I made up exactly on third of the attendance. With none of the usual entrances open, the route into the ground wasn't especially obvious and I ended up following the players after they'd warmed up on an adjacent training pitch, then threw a right down the tunnel and into the spectator areas.

 

I wondered why the players were instructed not to warm up on the playing surface and all quickly became obvious - the pitch was a mudbath!

 

Who'd have thought, then, that the club playing on a pudding of a pitch in front of three people were approaching a momentous anniversary?

 

But it's true. For just five days later Wanderers marked 140 years since they won the FA Cup for the third time. They'd drawn 1-1 with Old Etonians on March 11 in the final, 1876 and then roared to a 3-0 win in the replay at Kennington Oval in front of 3,500 people a week later.

 

And that FA Cup victory was the springboard for an historic run of three successive triumphs in the world's greatest knockout competition - something Arsenal couldn't do this year and only Blackburn have managed since.

 

Far from being the start of a long of domination, however, pretty soon it started to  go belly up. Those pesky public schools started forming their own teams so the posh lads all left and played for Sir's side instead.

 

By the end they were reduced to playing one match a year - a festive Christmas fixture against Harrow School - and by 1887 is was all over.

 

All over, that is, until 2009 when, with the blessing of descendants of people involved with the original club, Wanderers were reborn.

 

The aim of the 21st century Wanderers is to ensure the legacy of the original club lives on and to raise money for worthy causes and so far they have handed over more than three grand.

 

Sometimes there's more to football than 22 blokes kicking a ball about on a pudding of a pitch in front of a crowd of three.