Play misty for me

Six more games have taken me up to 90 for the season: England 1-0 Sweden (48,876), Dulwich Hamlet 0-2 Oxford United in The FA Youth Cup (138), Crown & Manor 2-0 Primrose Hill (18), Warlingham 1-5 Guernsey (150 approx), London Japanese 2-2 Moorfields Eye Hospital (2) and Bedfont Sunday 0-1 Branksome Conservative Club in The FA Sunday Cup (22).

I’m not sure to what extent I can claim to have ‘seen’ yesterday afternoon’s FA Sunday Cup Second Round tie at Bedfont Sports Recreation Ground, given that most of it was played in thick fog.

I’d seen some football in Regent’s Park in the morning, when the sun had broken through to disperse some early morning mist, and a game with a Japanese referee (my second in eight days) took place in perfect conditions. As I travelled west on the Piccadilly line towards Heathrow afterwards I noticed that it was becoming foggier all the time.

When Bedfont Sunday, who reached The FA Sunday Cup Final in 1993, started their game with ‘Branksome Con’ from Dorset, it wasn’t too bad. I stood behind one goal and could easily see the frame of the goal at the other end. It was starting to deteriorate as half-time approached and to make the ref’s job even more difficult, there was an ‘incident’ in Bedfont’s box that resulted in one yellow card and one red.

A Branksome player was about to launch a long throw into that box when some of us could see a Bedfont player lying flat on his face. “He’s punched him in the face!” shouted one of his team-mates. There were an unpleasant two or three minutes after that during which there was a lot of shouting and players having to be restrained.

When the players got ready to start the second half, with the far goal from me having disappeared in the gloom, no-one could see the ref. No-one knew if he was on the pitch or not. “He’s gone home”, suggested one of the Branksome coaches. Fair play to him, though, for managing to get the game finished. By the end, the Dorset side were 1-0 winners with No.10’s glancing header on 65 minutes, you couldn’t even see from one side to the other.

The densest fog I’ve ever seen was at Crewe Alexandra’s Gresty Road in the ‘70s. I went there for a fixture against Darlington in the old ‘Division Four’ and the conditions suddenly got worse as kick-off approached, an announcement being made at 2.55 that the ref had called it off. I was standing on the terracing behind one of the goals but could barely make out the goal right in front of me.

It sounds ridiculous but it took several minutes to find where the exit was. Someone gave me a voucher for a future Crewe game and I saw them play Northampton a few weeks later.

‘International football’ came to Warlingham’s Church Road ground on Saturday. Guernsey FC was formed this year to offer the island’s best footballers the opportunity to progress and test themselves on a regular basis outside of the Channel Islands. It’s an independent, community club which plays in the Combined Counties League’s Division One at Step 6 in English football’s non-League pyramid system.

Guernsey moved eleven points clear at the top of the table after Saturday’s 5-1 victory, Warlingham, third before kick-off, played very well in the first half and were only one goal down until the last seconds of the first half. The ‘Green Lions’ won what is now The FA Inter-League Cup in 2010, representing England in the subsequent UEFA Regions Cup, and they look set for the title – though Bedfont Sports (the Saturday side) are handily placed with three games in hand.       

David Barber is The FA’s historian. He joined the full-time staff in 1970, initially working in the International Department with Sir Alf Ramsey. He has compiled more than 150 books, acted as liaison officer to 48 visiting national teams and attended 6,141 games at home and abroad. He also has a philosophy degree from Liverpool University.