Some like it hot

It wasn’t so much the ‘searing heat of Guadalajara’ as the ‘searing heat of Osterley’, as I made my way to Saturday’s Middlesex County Football League Premier Division fixture between Southall and FC Deportivo Galicia. In the blinding sun and with the temperature nudging 80, I’d chosen a ground with no shade whatsoever.

But I wasn’t going to complain after that miserable winter, as I started to melt behind the goal.

Southall FC has a brilliant 139-year history. They’ve played in an FA Amateur Cup Final, an FA Vase Final and reached The FA Cup’s Third Round Proper. ‘The Hall’ have turned out at Wembley Stadium, Highbury, Craven Cottage and The Den before crowds close to 30,000. They’ve been members of the Southern, Athenian and Isthmian Leagues.

Now they’re in the bottom half of the MCFL Premier Division and Saturday’s match at Osterley Sports Club, technically a ‘home’ fixture, had 14 spectators. On one of the other pitches a little group were practising archery, which I found particularly ‘arrowing.

But at least the points went to that great old club. They’d hardly had a sniff in the first 20 minutes against Deportivo, a club whose roots go back to some ‘60s immigrants from north-west Spain, but they proceeded to score twice in quick succession. It finished 2-1 to Southall and having lived the first two years of my life there, I hope they manage to sort out a ground for next season.

When I got back to Paddington, there was a long queue of Cardiff supporters waiting for their trains back to Wales. They were standing in silence, which made me think the Bluebirds probably hadn’t flown up into the Premier League that afternoon. The pitchside temperature at Wembley was measured at 106.7 degrees and I may well have taken off my anorak if I’d been there.

If anything, Sunday felt even warmer and there was a noon kick-off for Greenhouse Bethwin SC v Silvy Bees in the ‘Whiteley Bequest Cup Final’ at Hanwell Town FC. There was a late start, apparently because Bethwin had arrived without any kit. Bees had some strip issues too: they all had reds shirts but some were England shirts, some Manchester United, and one was a Czech Republic shirt of Euro 96 vintage with ‘POBORSKY’ on the back.

Bethwin won 4-1. I reckon I have four more matches to see this season, starting with England v Mexico tonight and ending with an MCFL ‘groundhopper’ fixture next Monday (31st). This is Copland v Interwood at Northwick Park Playing Fields, The Fairway, Harrow HA0 3TQ, starting at 3pm.