He marvelled at how everyone is so "up for it" when it comes to The FA Cup.
Yeading’s Cup exploits were the stuff of legends last season, the Ryman Premier side winning through to the Third Round Proper to play glamorous Newcastle at Loftus Road. What will be less well known is that the club now shares its ground with Combined Counties League Southall and it was the latter who were in Preliminary Round action at "The Warren" at the weekend.
I pitched up to the ground at about ten to three, after a long walk through the exotic sights, sounds and smells of Southall High Street, and had four or five fans in front of me in the queue. I’d seen them all pay, so was taken aback when the Asian lad at the turnstile handed me a programme and said: "It’s all free for you, sir". It’s still a mystery.
Enfield were a top amateur outfit in the ‘60s and in that decade I saw them twice at Wembley in the Amateur Cup Final. But they seem to have fallen on hard times since losing their ground and really had a ‘mare on Saturday, going down 5-0. Southall’s tall No.6, who looked like a centre-half, played up front and squeezed home two efforts from "impossible" angles to give them a 2-0 lead at half-time.
Rather than "a game of two halves" this Cup tie turned out to be "a game of two referees". The appointed female ref was, I suspect, delayed by a traffic accident and
was only able to officiate in the second half. She found the Enfield players and coaches blaming her for all their problems as things went from bad to worse for the visitors.
"Honestly, you’re just like a bunch of schoolkids!", she exclaimed at one point.
Two other clubs who share a ground these days are Welling United (Conference South) and Erith & Belvedere (Kent League) and I went to Erith’s tie with famous Cup fighters Tooting & Mitcham United at Park View Road on Friday night. The away team had spurned several presentable chances and the game seemed destined to finish goalless until it all went crazy from the 86th minute onwards.
Then Erith scored, Tooting equalised and Tooting scored again in a breathless finale. I watched the last few minutes behind the goal with Mike Wilson, who helped me with my "FA Trophy and Vase Review" many years ago.
The weekend’s Cup "treble" was completed at Essex Senior League Barkingside on Sunday afternoon and their 2-2 draw with Leverstock Green after extra-time was probably the best of the three.
‘Side included Grant Smith, an international with the England Learning Disabilities team, at right-back and should have won by at least a couple of goals.
‘Side’s manager had written in the programme: "Days like today are always big occasions for us. There is something about The FA Cup that is special. Yes, it is only the Preliminary Round but believe me it is important to all of us. It is the biggest domestic cup competition in the world and of course there is a fair amount of prize money involved too".
My three other games last week were Hanwell Town v Harefield United in the Spartan South Midlands League (0-2), Eastbourne Borough v Welling United in the Conference South (1-1) and Audit Commission v Athletico Chips in the London League (4-3). Another two tonight will bring me up to 60 for the season - and it's still only August!