Feltham 2 Bookham 4

A nice short journey for me down to the Orchard, home of Bedfont FC, to watch this el Premier Cup 2nd round tie. Feltham a division lower than Bookham put a good performance in and on another night could have won convincingly.

Bookham had 4 real chances and scored all 4 whereas Feltham missed chance after chance. Bookham sped into a 2-0 lead with a dodgy free kick providing the second. The referee failed to signal an quick kick was permitted and also failed to blow his whistle, the Bookham striker found the corner of the goal nicely with the Feltham defence failing to notice the kick had even been taken. Feltham continued to pile on the pressure and pulled one back.

As they pushed on for a second Bookham broke on the counter attack and went 3-1 ahead. Feltham then managed to get a second making a tense finish. As they searched for an equalizer Bookham got a forth and effectively killed the game. The home team also had a player sent off as he watched from the sidelines after being substituted. Feltham were good for extra time and unlucky to not get anything, on a bitterly cold evening.

Chester City 3 Brentford 0

My first visit to Chester and what a journey. After going through what seemed like all four seasons, including some heavy snow, we made it to the Deva Stadium with 5 minutes to kick off, no less than 5 and a half hours after leaving Brentford. The game itself was a strange one, Brentford failed to take numerous opportunities and Chester scored there one of the first half. The second half Brentford failed to turn up conceeding two more. The score line is a bit deceptive Brentford dominated the first half and Chester the second and on another night the score could have reflected just as well in favour of the visitors. In all not a great night for the Bees in the North West and a long journey home pointless. For a full match report go to www.brentfordfc.co.uk .

Brentford 1 Shrewsbury Town 1

The Bees, for me, did enough to win this, in a game which was a great advertisement for the league. Charlie MacDonald once again showed what a class player he is with his goal before Shrewsbury equalised less than 10 minutes later. For a full match report visit www.brentfordfc.co.uk .

Brentford 3 Morecambe 1

The Bees should have probably won this more convincely. Neverless its another 3 points. For a full match report visit www.brentfordfc.co.uk .

Barkingside 4 Hullbridge Sports 1

I ventured out to Essex for this game in what can only be described as very poor conditions. So much so that a power cut, (caused by the weather apparently), meant i was stuck on the Central line for 20 minutes going nowhere. I even feared i may miss the game altogether having no idea how long it would take to restart. It would have been a huge annoyance having gone so far and only being 2 stations away.




I am a little confussed as to who owns the ground now, i was under the belief Barkingside used to, but it has now been sold to Redbridge (Ford United), who continue to let Barkingside play there as tennants. Similar to Kingstonian at AFC Wimbledon. Indeed the signage around the ground suggests that Redbridge owns the ground. However in the programme it states Redbridge are Barkingsides tennants. Maybe i got confussed or misunderstood something!

The ground itself is quite quaint with the only annoyance being that to get to it from the adjacent station you have to go around almost in a semi circle. There is ample terracing and a largish seated stand along one side. Segragation is possible if needed and it looked like the far side would be given to travelling fans. Barkingside seemed to have a nice set up with plenty of ideas in the programme that are clearly raising extra revenue for the club.


The game itself was quite an open one with both teams looking dangerous going forward. Hullbridge had ample opportunities in the first half however failed to convert them. Barkingside themselves also lacked that something infront of goal missing numerous chances. Hullbridge were however there own victims, with Barkingside 1-0 up with around 4-5 minutes until half time they scored an own goal as between 2 defenders and the goalkeeper no one made real claim to it, before it bounced off the second defender and in. Barkingside were then to score a second a minute or so later as the keeper charge out for a long ball he was never going to get.






The second half continued to present chances for both teams who couldnt hit the target. Hullbridge pulled one back before letting Barkingside get a 4th. In all a very entertaining (and wet) night.

Once again my apologies for the picture quality these were unfortunatly taken on my camera phone. If everyone stook still and the light wasnt so bright they would have been alot better ;-)

Aldershot Town 1 Brentford 1

Not the greatest of games to be honest with both teams having ample chances to win it. Brentford equalised from the spot after Aldershot had led due to a first half penalty. The rec has a certain charm to it, however it does need some basic improvements. For a more detailed match report visit www.brentfordfc.co.uk.

Flackwell Heath 2 Marlow United 2

A local derby in every sense of the word. Marlow ground share Wilkes Park with Flackwell Heath and so this game had a little bite about it. The ground is quite a neat fuctional one however the enterance is maybe a little less obvious. Tucked in the corner between some houses it is easy to miss as i did. You can then circle the ground knowing it lays behind the houses however not succeding in finding the entry point. When we did find it, (it was behind a parked van meaning from the road it was not visable), we payed our entry fee and posistioned oursleved behind the goal. This fixture had a fairly large crowd and the majority of them were either on the dugout side of the ground or by the turnstilles.

The game it's self was a firey affair as Marlow raced into a 2-0 lead. The first coming from a keeper error. Flackwell Heath however had other ideas and depite being reduced to 10 men pulled the score level to 2-2. It was however to be a low blow for the Heathens as Marlow were to sneak a winner late on in the game.

(my apologies for the poorness of the pictures)

Locks Heath 3 Ludwig Leisure 1

My first Hampshire Premier League game saw me at Locks Heath, near Fareham in Hampshire.

In thruth it was quite an entertaining game that Locks Heath should have won more convincingly. Locks Heath playing in red took the lead through a penalty which was comfortably converted. Building on from this they doubled there advantage with a nice goal drilled in from the left past the driving keeper. Ludwig then pulled one back in what i think was there first meaningful attack, lobbing the keeper nicely as he came rushing out. The score remained 2-1 at half time even though Locks Heath should have been out of sight by this stage. Ludwig put up a bit more fight in the second half however to no avail as Locks Heath scored a 3rd to effectively kill the game off.

The ground is one of only 3 in the Hampshire Premier League that currently has floodlights and there is potential for more. The attendance for this fixture varied as the match continued as there is no access control or admission fee. The club house is situated away from the pitch over a cricket strip, as are the changing rooms.

The Start of Something!

So here it is the beginning of my blog. My aim is to update it with details of my Ground hopping exploits that will take me to various leagues and towns throughout Great Britain. I love football and everything about it, I am first and foremost a Brentford FC fan however having conquered most of the grounds in Leagues One and Two decided to turn my attention to the Grassroots game. Having followed the Bees around the country avidly for the last 3-4 years i now would like to notch up a few more grounds. I still hold a Brentford Season Ticket and intend on going to all games at Griffin Park, however its the cold Tuesday nights standing in a field in the middle of nowhere clutching onto a cup of Bovril that this blog will concentrate on.

I have been to numerous non-league games over the last 10 years and have racked up a number of clubs, however despite keeping records of all these fixtures i felt it was now time to try and document them for all to see.