On Sunday I went to Bath to see Team Bath v Windsor & Eton. Twerton Park is a cracking ground, but I wouldn't recommend a visit when the students are playing. The official crowd was 114, but there were no more than 70 spectators, and that includes 20 from Windsor. The game was quite poor, with the students winning 2-1.

Last night I visited the superb Garden Walk Stadium, home of Gornal Athletic. For a club so far down the pyramid to have such a big ground is very unusual. There's a steep 24-step terrace on one side which offers a cracking view of the pitch, plus a small seated stand opposite. The place has a bit of a run down feel to it, which just adds to the charm.
The game didn't match the surroundings though. Gornal scored twice inside 20 minutes, and proceeded to miss loads more chances. Visitors Bustleholme only have 5 points and are bottom, and it was obvious why. They're shit. They had one reasonable player up front, and should have had their captain sent off for shoving an opponent in the face. For some reason the ref only produced a yellow card.

For once I'm not posting about some obscure place I've been too. I noticed that this thread has over 7300 views (at the time of writing) which I find somewhat amazing. Do people find it interesting reading to see which backwaters Andy and I get to in the pusuit of...well... I don't know?
I can't even recall how I/we came to start writing about our travels in the first place. Anyway, I hope some of you enjoy hearing about the likes of Stocksbridge Park Steels, Sunderland Nissan, Coventry Sphinx, Oxhey Jets, Bemerton Heath Harlequins and Wootton Blue Cross.

Ended up at Thetford Town today. The ground is only a 5 minute walk from the station, so getting there was pretty easy. The club doesn't look to be in any danger of getting out of the Eastern Counties Division 1, as they're pretty poor. Today they were beaten 2-1 by newly promoted Brantham Athletic, who were well organised but nothing special.
Three sides of the ground are undeveloped, but thankfully there's an old wooden stand on one side to give the place a bit of character. A homely little clubhouse added to the friendly atmosphere (the home #10 excepted who called most of his own players, his manager and some of the away team c**ts). Nice.

Unfortunately i had a football-free Saturday due to an MRI scan on my knee, but at least i did share a thread with Lee today as i had to listen to the dreadful James B***t for 10 minutes on the headphones.
Still, probably my fault as the nurse asked what music did i want to hear, but she hadn't heard of Derek & Clive Live
However, i did get out in time to head over to Southwood to watch Ramsgate reserves but it was off , oh buggerrr..

@Must admit that i'm not suprised by the number of hits that we have on this thread, as my/our old thread hit around 10,000 from memory

Personally, i enjoy writing about my expoits and like to paint a picture as not everyone is/can make regular trips due to location/time factor/family commitments etc etc and a lot of people have commented about how much they enjoy reading about the trips to the wonderful places such as Rayners Lane, Larkfield & New Hythe Wanderers,Milton & Fulston United,Cafc Praha and TSV Goeggingen


Long may our reports continue, and before people ask there are a lot more likewise people that are even madder than us in what they watch and some distinctly odd foibles(not from Lee or myself i hasten to add)

I like reading this thread and I'm normal.

Got absolutely frozen at Highgate United v Barwell last night. By half time the pitch was solid, but the ref chose to play on. Barwell won 2-1 with a lovely curling free kick after the ref decided not to send a Highgate defender off for a professional foul - because he couldn't decide who the culprit was . In the end he took pot luck and showed a rather random yellow card to someone who was nowhere near the play .
The ground is pretty rural, in a place called Shirley (no crap gags please Les ). A strange place, as access is via an open pitch. There one stand which runs the length of the pitch, with a couple of rows of seating in half of it. The rest is merely gravel, interspersed with junk, a rotting Christmas tree and various other biodegradable waste. Thankfully the radiators were on full blast in the clubhouse.

As if.......

It was back to the Coco Prem for the first time this season as i headed for Merland Rise, i'd seen Banstead at home last season in a psf but it was played on the training pitch outside the main ground, so today was a chance to chalk off "Ice station Merland" to see league leaders Epsom & Ewell host Horley Town.
Being rather exposed to the elements from the nearby North Downs, i was glad of my trusty Sankt Pauli mutze and today i gave an outing to our new scarf(courtesy of Nico) and i was well glad of it.
"Ice station Merland" is the non-league equiv weatherwise to Oldham's Boundary Park-Ice station Zebra, but i'm glad that i picked a reasonable day with no wind but it was freezing in the second half.
Around 40 hardy souls were also present, Horley were 4th from bottom and had only taken 1 point from 12 encounters with the hosts, so a banker home-win was on the cards.
Horley started brightly and were playing the more composed football, which at times was all rather frenetic but wasn't helped by a somewhat over pedantic referee.
Despite being the league leaders, Epsom didn't threaten much whilst Horley squandered a good few chances, the home 'keeper kept his side in it at the bitter end with a vital save, but Horley looked a lot better side than the league table stated, if i were a Horley fan i'd have been disappointed with just a point at the leaders.
A decent 0-0 which was made bearable without any chill winds blowing..

I took in the 3rd Round Vase game between Hamworthy United and Hungerford Town - Wessex meets Hellenic. I predicted a home win , so obviously Hamworthy lost 3-1. Just proves I know sod all.
The first half was really one sided, with Hungerford going in a goal up. Hamworthy did draw level early in the second half, but Hungerford soon got themselves back in front from a free kick. The hosts then threw everything they had forward, until Hungerford got a third right at the death with a breakaway goal.
The ground was a bit better than I'd expected, with a nice old stand with wooden bench seating. And it was warmer than Banstead in Dorset.

I was going to go to Blyth v Redditch Utd today but it was postponed. It would have given me the chance to pick up my cup replay tickets as well but I guess I've missed out now. Just have to watch it on Setanta in a warm pub.....

Another chilly night out for me. I visited the newly promoted Bloxwich United and their Old Red Lion Ground for their match with the porous Wolverhampton Casuals. I'd only seen the Casuals once before - an 8-1 loss - so I was confident it wouldn't be 0-0. I was right. 5-0 at half time, 11-1 at full time! The most goals I've ever seen in one game, and great entertainment even if it was a little one sided. The #10 scored 7 of the 11 - pretty impressive.
The ground is a little bit ramshackle, with just one seated stand behind the near goal which was used by err...nobody. The programme was full colour throughout - the first time I've seen this at the 10th tier.
The clubhouse was a good size, cheap and warm. Everards Mild at £2.05 a pint rounded off a cracking evening's football.

A real challenge today finding a game which hadn't been postponed. My original choice of Newport County was on, but there was major disruption on the line out of Paddington, so that was the end of that idea. As the rain was so bad I decided to look for something close to home, so that if I got there and it was off I didn't have far to go home. After much trawling of the web I found St Neots Town was on. It's a brand new ground and has decent drainage, so the game with Northampton Spencer was never in doubt.
The ground is pretty good, with cover on 3 sides (most welcome today). St Neots scored early on, before their right back decided to slap a Northampton player off the ball just before half time. The ref showed a straight red, and quite rightly. St Neots added a second just after the break, before the visitors hit back with two well worked goals. Despite being down to ten men St Neots stayed in the game and won it with a 91st minute goal.
Although it was far from being my first choice to visit today I quite enjoyed my visit to Rowley Park.

Today after work, i'd planned to go to see Canterbury Citys' away match against the exotically named Staplehurst & Monarchs United at their East Malling ground, but due to BR my planned train was cancelled.
This meant that i'd a choice of several close revisits, so i plumped on DEal Town v Lordswood in the Kent League.
Deal included tree ex Rams in their line up scored first in a veritable orgy of goals in the first half an hour which went 1-0,1-1,1-2,2-2,2-3.
Deal got an equaliser near the end for a draw which was only the 5th point the visitors have accrued all season.

Saved the best for last, as The Polegrove was my last required ground in the Sussex County League Division Two. I loved the old wooden stand - an absolute cracker. The pitch was shit though.
Southwick started brightly and were in control until their captain was sent off for retaliation. The ten men took the lead on half an hour through their number 9, who looked dangerous throughout. Bexhill equalised three minutes later with a lucky goal, the ball going in off the number six's midriff. Bexhill took the lead a couple of minutes later with a close range effort and a valuable three points looked on the cards.
Southwick threw everything at them after the break, and Bexhill started to waste time with 25 minutes still left! Southwick then scored 2 in 2 minutes, a free header from a corner and a deflected shot from their left back to win it. The visitors deserved to win as they played the better football and were far more positive, despite playing 75 minutes with a man less.