The Good, the Bad & the Ugly: Bowers & Pitsea FC v Waltham Abbey FC: FA Cup Preliminary Round Replay: 23 August 2016

After watching Saturday’s enjoyable 2-2 draw at Waltham Abbey I   decided to make my 15th game of the season at Bowers for the replay.

I went to Bowers a number of times at the end of last season, watching them in a couple of FA Vase ties as well as at least one league games. Bowers won promotion from the Essex Senior League (level 9) to the Rymans League Div. 1 North (level 8) despite having to cope with an incredible fixture backlog and a very heavy pitch. Bowers showed great resilience and fitness last season to win promotion. I enjoyed my visits to Bowers and they were clearly a club rooted in the local community and with a big clubhouse that did more than open on match days.

THE GOOD

There were several good things about my trip to Bowers. This first thing being how good the pitch looked compared to the end of last season. Clearly the groundsman has done a lot of work and he can be proud of his efforts.

The ground itself seems to have had a bit of a tidy up. The whole ground looked clean and smart. It is a very small ground with only a small bit of terracing. The main covered standing is behind one goal and consists of converted shipping containers with part of the side cut off. These have had lighting added. A simple, cheap and effective solution to the problem of providing the required covered standing.

The main stand at Bowers houses, the PA announcer, the seats, the director’s box, and the food hut. It consists of 4 rows of seats and runs 1/2 to 2/3rds of the length of the pitch. Simple, low rise but effective. Again a good value for money solution and far more attractive than the metal stands seen at many grounds.

However, the main item under “the Good” for me had to be the game which was a feisty, hard fought but entertaining cup tie. Very early on, Waltham Abbey took the lead with a goal after around 2 minutes. After 8 minutes, Waltham Abbey were 2 up. Bowers seemingly caught cold and were facing a hammering.

Bowers, like last season showed their fighting spirit and fought their way back into the game. Going forward and in midfield, Bowers looked decent, but every time Waltham Abbey attacked the looked like they would score. Credit should be of course given to the Waltham Abbey forwards for their effort and skill.

Bowers pulled a goal back before half time with a penalty for handball. A silly penalty to give away.  So 1-2 at half time.

Midway through the second half, Bowers equalised with a lovely strike. Before I had time to tweet that goal, Waltham Abbey went straight up the pitch and scored. 2-3 now.

Bowers kept plugging away, but late on were caught by a quick counter attack and at 2-4 it was too much for them to do. After all the hard work in the 1st tie at Waltham Abbey, Bowers let themselves down with some sloppy defending and failing to pay attention.

The game was a feisty affair and the referee did well to avoid having to send anyone off. 

The game was played with the passion and commitment sadly so often lacking at the higher levels of the game.

Another good thing was the use of the Bowers & Pitsea youngsters as mascots. The encouraging of families and children to the game is something that is to be praised, which makes the matters under the heading below of THE UGLY even worse. 

THE BAD

The cruel people would say the bad should be the Bowers defence. I think that would be harsh. They were simply lacking experience at a higher level and sadly lost concentration at times.

For me, the bad was the admission price which at Bowers this season is £9. This is a 50% increase on last season and makes Bowers one of the highest charging clubs in the Rymans League Div 1 North. For example Waltham Abbey charge £8 as do Romford. Although Aveley are charging £10 this season. 

I appreciate that Bowers have gone up a level, but a 50% increase to be one of the most expensive sides to watch is a bit steep.  Obviously it is up to Bowers what they charge, but being so expensive relative to other clubs will put off the ground hoppers and infrequent visitors.

At a time of stagnant price rises, a 50% increase is excessive. The moving up a level will not increase the travelling of the club significantly as the Essex Senior League has a large geographic footprint as well.

On a positive note, the programme at £1.50 was cheaper than many other clubs are charging this season.

THE UGLY

No, not the female sat near me. (She was actually rather attractive, not that I noticed). The ugly for me was the language of one of the Bowers & Pitsea officials who sat at the press desk at the back of the Directors box and proceeded to berate the referee with foul and abusive language. His language was inappropriate per so, but even more so when he was sitting immediately behind women and children. 

He was wearing a Bowers & Pitsea training top and proceeded to take his frustrations out on the referee with his abuse. Now, as a regular football fan, I understand and appreciate the passion involved in the game. There is a huge difference between passion and abuse. 

Its rather ironic that at the ground there are signs advertising the FA Respect campaign when a club official is clearly showing no respect to the referee. There is also a big advert for RESPECT on the front of the match programme.

It would  perhaps have been slightly less obvious and slightly less ugly if the foul mouthed male had not chosen to position himself at the back of the Director's box immediately behind women and children. I am not sure what sort of example this is presenting to those young players who were mascots or to anyone else at the game.

It leaves a sour taste in the mouth and makes me less likely to want to return to watch football at Bowers.It is a shame that the behaviour of one individual should let down all the other friendly welcoming volunteers at Bowers.

Bowers are a club that have made massive steps forward and I am sure will continue to do so. 

Waltham Abbey are at home to Wingate & Finchley in the next round of the cup on 3rd September 2016.

Still on the Road: Romford FC v Hullbridge Sports FC: FA Cup Preliminary Round: 21 August 2016

Game 13 for me and my third FA Cup tie of the weekend. Thanks to Romford and their landlords Thurrock, both being drawn at home in the FA Cup this weekend, Romford had to move their game from yesterday.

The 13:30 kick off meant that I had to meet my friends earlier than normal for breakfast today. As usual, I was late setting off to cycle to the cafe, so had to push myself. Why is there always a head wind when you are in a rush cycling? Anyway after chewing the cud over breakfast and putting the world to rights and slaughtering the FA for everything it does or doesn't do, it was time to race home, get changed and head down to Thurrock's Ship Lane ground.

Romford are now in the Rymans League Div. 1 North. This is the third incarnation of the club. The last incarnation went bust after trying to get into the Football League. The club history can be found here.

Romford now play their home games outside of Romford. They ground share with Thurrock FC some miles from Romford. The ground at Ship Lane is one of the best non league grounds in Essex. Possibly second best now Dagenham & Redbridge have been relegated into the National League.

Photo of ground# "borrowed" fellow ground hopper Dan Wilson @essexfootie 

The ground reflects the fact that Thurrock had several seasons in the Conference South. There is covered terracing behind both goals, the main stand in the picture above down one side and on the far side is a covered stand running the length of the pitch, incorporating seating at one end and terracing at the other with a TV gantry straddling the halfway line.

I saw Hullbridge in the FA Cup last season when their run was ended by Grays Athletic at Millfield. That was a day remembered  by me for the foul and abusive language from the Hullbridge bench and their team for the whole 90 minutes. They were a disgrace to the game that day. I have had clients prosecuted for less abusive language.

As the teams lined up today, I wondered what sort of game we would encounter. Romford this year have changed from yellow and blue stripped shirts to hooped shirts. These look more like rugby shirts. As Hullbridge warmed up, Romford looked as though they were practising scrummaging.

Hullbridge Sports are from the Essex Senior League, a division below Romford. You would not have realised it from the way the game started. In the first minute, Hullbridge were unlucky not to be 1 up when a great move resulted in a shot beating the keeper but striking the post.

Hullbridge continued to pile on the pressure and after 2 minutes they were a goal up. They continued to look lively. Romford seemed to be out of sorts. A lack of commitment ? Caught cold by the attacking nature of the Hullbridge play?

Ronford got back on level terms on 8 minutes  and from then on gradually took control of the game. They got a second goal midway through the first half and then on the stroke of half time they were awarded a penalty. 

Romford deserved to be ahead, but 3-1 flattered them and was a  bit harsh on Hullbridge. The second half started with Romford scoring again. 4-1 up. Game over and an easy win for Romford. Would this be another hiding like last season up the road at Millfield?

Clearly Hullbridge had not read the script and kept on battling. It didn't look like they were going to score, then with around 15 minutes to go, they scored a second goal. 4-2 down and  surely too little too late, it was a consolation goal to make the score look respectable.

The right at the end, Hullbridge scored again to make it 4-3 and cause a few squeaky bum moments for Romford. Then just to keep the excitement going, a Hullbrige player was sent off, I believe it was for something he said to the referee.  Said play left the field and game continued, but despite the clear FA rules the player did not go to the dressing room, but walked round the pitch behind the barrier and watched the game stood next to the home dugout. Surprisingly no official seemed to notice this. If referee was aware of it, then an FA charge could well follow for the player.

A thoroughly enjoyable cup tie with lots of twists and turns to keep the crowd, including many ground hoppers happy. At £8 for admission and £2 for the programme it was excellent value and a good way to spend a Sunday lunchtime;


One thing that did amuse me was one of the  advertising hoardings around the pitch. I have never seen an advert for "Explosive and Narcotic Search Dogs" at a football match before. I wonder what call there is for these amongst the spectators at Romford or Thurrock games.

The Road to Wembley Part 2: Aveley FC v AFC Hornchurch FC: FA Cup Preliminary Round: Friday 19 August 2016

So, the second round of the FA  Cup competition takes place this weekend, or as the FA logically call it the preliminary round. Instead of calling the rounds of this cup competition rounds 1- 12, followed by the semi-final and final, the FA decide in their wisdom to call the rounds as follows

1. Extra Preliminary Round
2. Preliminary Round
3. 1st Qualifying Round
4. 2nd Qualifying Round
5. 3rd Qualifying Round
6. 4th Qualifying Round
7. 1st Round
8. 2nd Round
9. 3rd Round 
10. 4th Round
11. 5th Round
12. 6th Round
13. Semi-Final
14. Final

It would make far more sense to call the rounds exactly what they are with the League 1 and League 2 clubs entering at the 7th Round and Premiership and Championship Clubs entering at the 9th Round. This would show that football is one big family and show that the FA value clubs at all levels of the game. However as we football fans know the FA care not one jot for non league football. This was made very clear last year when the FA scheduled an England game to clash with the finals of the FA Vase and FA Trophies. 

If this was not bad enough, the FA then drew the 1st qualifying round draw last Monday, i.e. 5 days before the first of the Preliminary Round ties had taken place.Why? The only answer I can see is the FA seem to like devaluing its cup competition or they have no regard for non league clubs at all. They wouldn't draw the  11th round of the competition before the 10th round was scheduled to take place.

Anyway, tonight, Aveley were at home to AFC Hornchurch. Why? Well, Aveley ground share with Grays Athletic. Aveley are the landlords, but Grays are in the higher division. It is an FA rule that the club in the higher division must have priority when there are fixture clashes. This on the face of it makes sense. However, tomorrow Grays Athletic are at home in a Rymans League game. The FA rule that Grays should have priority in a league game over a game in their own competition. This again acts to devalue the competition in my opinion.

Almost exactly a year ago, Aveley hosted AFC Hornchurch FC in a Rymans League game on a Friday night. It was an experiment to see if they would get bigger crowds playing on a Friday night rather  than playing on a Saturday. The logic being there would be less competition and neutrals would be attracted to the game. That game drew a crowd of around 250 which was more than double Aveley's normal home gate. The experiment was not repeated, but I am not sure why not.

Tonight, being an FA Cup tie and there being no other local football on, I was expecting another big crowd, The attendance tonight was 171, a considerable drop on the league game last season. Why the drop? I am not sure whether it was a lack of publicity of the Friday night game or the fact there was a Premiership game live on TV tonight. I hope its not the latter as this would be another nail in the coffin of struggling non league clubs.

This is supposed to be the last season at Millfield for Aveley (and Grays) as they are moving to a new purpose built ground elsewhere in the village. You may recall last season that I had chronicled the decline in the ground, especially after the storm destroyed a lot of fence panels. The fact that the ground only had a short time left meant that repairs were limited. I therefore expected to find the ground even more rundown than before.

The first thing I noticed was the clubhouse sign. As it was at the end of last season, it is suggesting Aveley are in the Diadora League. The Rymans League sign having come down in the storm and never been replaced.

This ground has traditional turnstiles, and a wonderful main stand. It will be a shame to lose these when the ground goes. You can see photographs of the main stand in my previous reports on this ground. Three sides of the ground consist of a couple of steps of terracing and to be fair few people use them. Most people remain on the other side which consists of a big terrace and the large main stand with its blue and white wooden seats.

There was a large turnout of ground hoppers tonight. For some it was the first time  they had seen others this season and a chance to exchange recent experiences and a chance to discuss where to go in forthcoming weeks.

The pitch itself looked in better condition than last season, although it looked very dry. It did not appear to be as uneven as in the past, but that may just be my perception.

The one noticeable thing when the teams came out was the assistant referee on the near side of the ground was female! Its still relatively rare to have female officials. They are getting accepted by the crowd and I have to say that I never heard any sexist comments about her or her decision making

The game itself was lively, but still goalless at half time. Aveley had started the brighter, but Hornchurch probably had the better of the latter part of the first half.

The second half continued on where the first half ended, with Hornchurch having the better of the exchanges. Just when it was looking like the game would be goalless, a mistake from the Aveley goalkeeper in dealing with a back pass led to  a goal for Hornchurch. That mistake cost Avely £1925 in prize money and gives a welcome financial boost to Hornchurch.

Surprisingly, given it was a cup tie, Aveley did not seem to try to an equaliser. The remainder of the game was dominated by Hornchurch, I am told that Hornchurch had 9 corners to Aveley's 1 during the game.

I have to confess to liking visiting Millfield, whether to see Aveley or Grays. The main stand and the large terracing on that side are something rarely seen at non league grounds and will be sadly missed when it is eventually replaced.

Admission £10

Programme £2

Car Parking £0

Catering - No idea, I never visited the snack bar

Crowd 171

Result: Aveley FC 0 AFC Hornchurch 1

The reward for AFC Hornchurch is an away time on 3rd September at AFC Rushden & Diamonds or Northampton Sileby Rangers. For Aveley, its  the league or the FA Trophy to look forward to. Hornchurch can continue to  dream of drawing a premiership team in a later round.

Hornchurch overall deserved their win. At least there was no drummer there.

For me, its a trip to Waltham Abbey tomorrow for another FA Cup Tie and a chance to watch Bowers & Pitsea again