Tuesday evening the FA cup continued so it gave us the perfect chance to tick of a ground that we wanted to do in the previous round as we visited Step 6 West Bridgford played host to Step 4 Halesowen Town. Once upon a time when i started watching non-league football regularly i had a goal to tick off all of the grounds in Nottinghamshire in the pyramid from Steps 1-7. Over the years i have neglected this goal a little and it’s become a bit harder with the NLS becoming a Step 7 league but it is still something i would like to achieve. This season has seen Newark FC ticked of the Notts list and now West Bridgford can join them.
Nottingham is one of a handful of cities that i could actually see myself living in. Mainly down to all the great times i have had there over the years. I enjoyed the drive through our county town as it’s very rare that i see the city when i not either 1) very drunk 2) nursing a hangover. We found the ground relatively easily even with Baz’s dodgy sat nav on his phone being a tad slow. On our way to the ground we pasted Notts County’s Meadow Lane that was hosting the Magpies FA Trophy semi final v Harrogate Town. As we got near to the ground i took over the navigational duties thus ensuring we arrived in good time. Whenever you watch football in Nottingham you cannot help about thinking of Nottingham Forest and their golden era of 1978-1981. It’s crazy to think they have as many European Cup/Champions League titles at Juventus despite not playing in it for over 30 years.
The evening was a big deal for West Bridgford as it was the first time the club had hosted a side from step 4 in their history thus they were dealing with a crowd much bigger than they would normally attract. A big shoutout has to go to Baz for pre-booing the tickets for the big game. Given that the crowd was capped at 300 and the away side had been given 75 tickets a was a tad worried that it would sell out if we arrived late.
The ground appears to be part of a larger complex and one that is very well looked after. Plenty of parking was on offer and everything seemed to be running smoothly. A large table was set up for taking track and trace details and selling tickets, programmes and badges. All the club officials were doing a great job given the crowd was much bigger than normal and when you take in all the COVID regulations we have nowadays the club can look back on a job well done.
The ground may be a tad basic but it’s tidy and is adequate for the clubs needs. Its mainly three sides hard standing, there is a small modern seater stand on one side of the ground which offers the only cover in the ground. The club had set up a burger stall outside of the ground near to the table selling tickets to feed the masses requiring refreshments but also inside there was a stall selling Pie and Peas along with the Nottingham specialty, a simple pot of peas.
As the game started Haleswoen came out of the blocks pretty fast and really took the game by the scruff of the neck. After the first ten minutes or so it looked like this could be a very one sided game but to their credit the hosts rallied and started to settle. Sadly for West Bridgford just as it looked like they had weathered the storm Halesowen took the lead when Holmes fired in low from long distance with the keeper view obstructed by the many players in the box. Halesowen had the lion’s share of the play in the first half but never really looked like getting the second goal that would have killed the game off.
Half time was spent catching up on the latest Bullshit announcement from Boris about the country’s ongoing battle with the Corona virus. Needles to say the UK isn’t covering itself in glory in its attempt to beat this wrenched illness. It’s going to be interesting to see how history judges Boris and co in 5, 10 years time. My guess is it will be viewing alongside the first day of the battle of the Somme or the first months of WW2 when the British and French were woefully unprepared for what awaited them. At halftime we also discussed which TV shows we have been watching. I then told them about this fantastic video i watched on Youtube about Billy the Kid. I told them to watch it and you all should too. Here it is, thank me later.
The first twenty minutes or so of the second half was pretty none descript with not much happening. Then with twenty minutes to go West Bridgford started to believe and took the game to Halesowen. Sadly for us neutrals they didn’t get to the goal to force penalties but it was great to see them try. All in all the hosts did themselves proud on and off the pitch; they are defiantly a club to visit if you get a chance.
On Thursday it was something a little different. Having disposed of Crewe and Bradford Lincoln were drawn to play Liverpool at home in the third round of the League Cup. As i spoke about on my last blog these was a huge deal for Lincoln and was picked up for TV coverage. Now the big question.. Where to watch it?
We decided on the Vinn Inn in Retford. Nowadays there are very few options to watch sport that is on Sky in the center of town these days. Back in the day this was where Felice strutted his stuff on the dance floor in between knocking back cans of Red Stripe. This was also the first night of pubs being forced to close at 10pm and table only service in pubs in the UK so it would be interesting to see what the new “Normal” would like for the next few months.
Given all this i have to give the girl working the bar that night a huge amount of credit. Drinks were served promptly and all in all it went pretty well. Sadly for Lincoln on the pitch this wasn’t really the case.
Lincoln were to be blunt outplayed with Liverpool looking a class above. A world class free kick started the route and the top class goals kept coming. At halftime it was 0-4 and i feared a double figure scoreline. The second half was a little better with the Imps getting on the scoreline not once but twice. It’s just a shame that Liverpool hit seven at the other end as the goals went in the pints flowed even more and made me glad that i had booked the next day at work off. The game reminded me of a game Felice and i had on a football arcade game at a service station en route to Wycombe in 98 when playing as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia i demolished his Italy 5-1. To give the Imps huge credit they dusted themselves down from this beating and dispatched Charlton 2-0 at the LNER Stadium 2-0 on Sunday.
I didn’t attend a game Saturday. But i did have a fun Sunday going on a date with a very nice younf lady. Ever since i suffered a dumping via text a month or so in lockdown my confidence with women has been through the floor. (i will be writing a blog about this at some point in the future) Although it looks like we are just going to be friends it was great to get out there and we have had a few text conversations this week so that a win in my humble view.
We go again.
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