The results of the matches that took "The Barber" up to a total of 5,161 went like this:-
Eastbourne Dynamos 0 Burwash 1, Bexhill United 2 Horley Town 4 (Women), TNT 3 Viacom Outdoor 0, Alba 5 Accenture 2, Edgware Town 5 Crawley Green 1, Poole Town 3 Verwood Town 0, Hamworthy United 0 Gosport Borough 2, AFC Leigham Vale Reserves 4 Charminster Saints 4, John Lewis 1 Halcrow 3 and Cray Wanderers 2 Winchester City 2 (CW won 5-4 on pens).
Eastbourne Dynamos FC, formed a few months ago, have been allocated a place in the East Sussex League’s Division Three. After a couple of pre-season friendlies they lined up in their red and blue striped shirts and blue shorts to take on Burwash and 18 spectators – mostly WAGs, I suspect – prepared to see history made at a windy Old Town Rec.
It was a close game with chances at both ends and on that showing Dynamos will hold their own in the division. I had a brief chat with Dean Pugh, their chairman, secretary and talented left-winger (think Ryan Giggs) and complimented him on the club’s excellent website. By my reckoning Dynamos are only something like 14 promotions away from the Premiership.
On the Sunday, 10th September, I made the short trip along the coast from Eastbourne to Bexhill-on-Sea to see Bexhill United’s FA Women’s Cup tie with Horley Town. My late dad always said his happiest times watching football were at The Polegrove and the family has had a bench installed close to the touchline and dedicated to him.
Then it was back to the metropolis for one of those Monday night "double headers" at Paddington Rec. Viacom seemed to have a few ringers for their London Football League match with TNT Magazine – but the ref drew the line when one chap in shirt, trousers and normal shoes tried to take his place in central defence.
I set off for Hayes v Bognor in the Conference South on Tuesday and found hundreds of people surging towards me out of Paddington Station and flashing lights around a big sign that said: "Emergency! Please evacuate the station immediately!"
So I quickly revised my plans for the evening, plumping instead for Edgware v Crawley Green in the Spartan South Midlands League Challenge Trophy and dashing down the steps to the tube. Then my train broke down after one stop and we all had to get off. The next one got stuck in a tunnel – but despite all these shenanigans I only missed the first five minutes.
The following morning I travelled down from Waterloo to Bournemouth and it rained without a break for 48 hours. Fortunately Poole Town, who once played Everton in The FA Cup, had built a swish new stand since I last went to their ground a year ago. So I sat in dry comfort as The Dolphins won their Wessex League Cup tie against Verwood, a division below them.
After two days without a match I was delighted to have an opportunity to see Gosport Borough, a team whose fortunes I’ve followed since 1960 because Gosport was where my maternal grandparents used to live. On Saturday "Borough" were at Hamworthy United for a Wessex League fixture, Hamworthy being a little Dorset town close to Poole.
Gosport went to the top of the table after a deserved 2-0 win and have now won six out of six in the League, letting in just one goal. On Sunday morning, now warm and sunny in King’s Park, I watched a match in the Bournemouth Sunday League’s Division Nine which finished 4-4, Charminster Saints scoring twice in the last two minutes to send the crowd (of six) into a frenzy.
I may be in a minority of one but I’ve always thought those player "huddles" before kick-off were completely pointless. Cray had a long one prior to the start of the second half of last night’s FA Cup replay…and it inspired them to concede an equaliser within two minutes.