The Central Midlands league is in the 7th tier of English non league football which is the starting step for any club starting out in the pyramid. There are many step 7 leagues in England but the Central midlands league is one of the better known and covers one of the largest areas. The plan is for 5 games to be played over the weekend at different times and designed in such a way that you can attend all 5. One match was planned for the Friday night and then four on the following Saturday. For the clubs chosen to host the games it is often the biggest game in their history. Normally these clubs attract anything from 0-50 fans. Today well over 200 were present at each game. Clubs have to plan for it well over a year in advance. But if done correctly the income gained gives the clubs a huge financial boost. Its akin to Lincoln getting the money spinning FA Cup tie away at Manchester United. For the players of the teams it could well be the largest crowd that they ever play infront of. The event attracts visitors from all over the UK and beyond. For me this was the third time i have attended this great event.
Action from my first central midlands league hop in 2009. Bulwell Town v Thoresby CW
The mastermind behind the event is local football legend Mr Rob Hornby. Nothing is ever to much effort for Rob when football is concerned. He pretty much sorts everything from advising the clubs on the best way to set up for the event to selling the tickets, and organising the transport, to making sure everybody has teamsheets at the games. And that is all between selling items on his charity stall, all in all it is like watching a conductor lead his orchestra. Sadly Rob is stepping down from the league committee at the end of the season. He will be sadly missed and incredibly hard to replace. All the best Rob in whatever you do and i am sure we will see you about somewhere :-)
Rob Hornby (Left) and his Jedi apprentice on the right
Anyway now that you understand a little more about the event lets get on to the white hot action! First up on the Friday night was Kinsley Boys v Harworth C.I with a 7.45 pm KO.
Kinsley Boys 1-0 Harworth C.I
Not a great game to kick off the event with. Both sides seemed to suffer a bit from stage fright. Kinsley just about deserved their win in the end and had the better chances. Beer was priced at a very reasonable £1.20 a can and very nice it was to. One of the high points of the evening was the fact that i missed Lincoln getting crushed 6-0 at home by Rotherham United. As the goals when in and texts about them came in more and more cans were purchased thus giving Kinsley an unexpected cash influx.
In the end the match was settled with a penalty half way through the first half, not a great start to the hop so surely it could only get better?
Saturdays first game was at Phoenix FC who are based on the outskirts of...Rotherham. This fact pretty much put paid to me wearing my warm padded Lincoln coat which, given that the weather was a tad on the chilly side, was a bit if a balls up on my part. We got the train up to Doncaster where the coach was picking up. The scene outside Doncaster station was similar to the bar in Star wars as "characters" from all over the UK gathered. Once on the coach Rob grabbed the mic and acted as our tour guide and gave us a run down on the two sides competing in the first match.
Phoenix 0-0 Kiverton Park
K.O 10.15 AM
Another plus point of these hops is the fact that quite a few people set up stalls selling progrmames and badges etc. Before the match i managed to pick up an Armthorpe Miners Welfare pin badge. All the host clubs and a couple of away sides on the hop were selling badges. All in all i spent a total of £21 quid on them. Money well spent though (well thats what i keep telling myself anyway) The sausage sandwiches were excellent and great value at a mere £2 and that along with the bracing Yorkshire air woke me up a treat.
Food tent
As for the match well there wasnt really much you could say about it. Kiverton Park looked the more likely to score but clear cut openings were few and far between. The hight point was the clubhouse at half time which had a great range of real ales on and was showing the England cricket team world cup match with Sri Lanka.
As soon as the final whistle had sounded we made a mad dash for the coach and we were soon on our way to central Nottinghamshire and our third match of the hop.
Thoresby Welfare 1-1 AFC Hucknall
KO 1.40 PM
This was the ground that i was looking foward to visiting the most mainly due to the fact that it was the only one on the hop that is in Nottinghamshire. It was a chilly day everywhere but Thoresby seem to be the coldest. The ground is quite open with a stand on one side providing the only shelter. The rest of the pitch is roped off and is next to the cricket pitch.
The home side took the lead from a bullet header following an inswinging corner and looked comfortable throughout the game until the final minute when a cross from the right was met at the far post and poked home to give AFC Hucknall a share of the points. The goal had been coming for the final ten minutes or so but Thoresby will feel that they should have had the points wrapped up long before then.
It was a relif to get on the coach to get warm. en-route we listened to Rob giving us a helpful guided tour of the area pointing out landmarks such as Welbeck Welfare FC and Shirebrook Towns floodlights. After a 20 minute journey we arived at the world famous Parkhouse fc.
Parkhouse fc 5-0 AFC Sutton Town
At last we saw a few goals! And it could well have been more. Sutton have had a crazy season and are currently on their 5th manager of the campaign. With this in mind it is hardly suprising that they sit 4th bottom of the divison while Parkhouse are in the top third. Sutton looked to have a young side out and couldn't cope with their older and more streetwise opponents. Sutton's man of the match was infact the goalkeeper who couldn't do much with any of the goals and did his best to keep the score down.
Parkhouse really excelled off the pitch too; the jacket potatoes with cheese and chilli tasted fantastic and were great value. Beer was on sale at a resonable £1.50 a can and nothing seemed too much trouble for the staff. One nice point was the fact that they were the only club on the hop not to charge for teamsheets.
Due to the fact that the night was drawing in half time was limited to 7 minutes. Even with the shortened break the game still finished in darkness. We ambled onto the coach and headed for our next destination. Each club did a programme for the hop and i have to say that Parkhouse's effort was by far the best of the bunch.
South Normanton Athletic 6-1 FC05 Bilsthorpe
This was a good choice of ground to finish on. This was by far the best ground on the hop and without being disrespectful to the others, it was the only ground which could be used at a higher level of football. It was great to have a proper bar/clubhouse in the ground and given that it was still bloody cold outside was doing a roaring trade.
This was a real top v bottom clash but it wasnt until the second half that the gulf in class began to show. By this point i was at the point of football overload and retreated to the bar at halftime and didnt resurface till 5 minutes before the final whistle. From the bar i got a decent enough view of the action without getting too cold.
All in all it was a great day out spent in great company. £15 entrance fee for all 5 matches, 21 quid on badges, and much fun and jolly japes along the way. With all 5 grounds being new to me it has brought my total up to 125 grounds visited. I couldn't watch this level of football every week but every once in a while it is a great day out and one i can thoroughly recommend to any football fan.
Great account of the hop, Adam.
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