The FA's historian David Barber is fast approaching 7,000 games as a fan of football at all levels.
This weekend he was out and about in the Garden of England and Regent's Park...
Two of the AFA Senior Cup quarter-finals on Saturday were postponed after a lot of rain, but West Wickham v NUFC Oilers survived and I reached it via the 12.47 from Charing Cross.
West Wickham is in Kent near Hayes. It rained on the train journey, on the walk to Corkscrew Hill and throughout the first half.
The Barber saw the tie between Carshalton Athletic and Keynsham Town in The FA Women's Cup on Sunday
There is no cover there and I seemed to be the only one without an umbrella, so I was seriously drenched when I went into the warm of the clubhouse at half-time to watch the closing minutes of Hull v Newcastle on the big screen.
I had always thought that ‘NUFC Oilers’ had some Newcastle connection but the ‘NU’ element apparently stands for Nottingham University.
They won promotion to the Southern Amateur League’s Division Two last season and look to be on course for another step-up as they currently head the table with nine wins out of ten.
The Oilers did most of the attacking in the first half, finally netting in the last minute. The deluge had stopped but the temperature plummeted and with that northerly wind it started to feel like zero.
Oilers were still dominating and it seemed to be only a matter of time before they sealed the win with another goal or two. Then West Wickham, roared on by a crowd of around 20, scored twice in the last seven minutes to make it 2-1 and book their place in the semis.
It was the most unlikely turnaround.
On Sunday morning it was bitterly cold in Regent’s Park. There weren’t as many people about as usual. Even some of the players in my London Accountants League fixture were in woolly hats, balaclavas, scarves and gloves.
It was truly miserable but at least I saw seven goals. I took the tube to Victoria via Oxford Circus in plenty of time for the 1.10 to Carshalton for Carshalton Athletic’s FA Women’s Cup Third Round tie with Keynsham Town.
The home side, who had reached that stage for the first time, enjoyed some good possession in the first few minutes but after countless scrambles did well to be only 3-0 down at the break.
A football match lasts for 90 minutes, unless there is extra-time, and Carshalton set about reducing the arrears. They scored after 53 and 65 minutes and it was definitely ‘game on’.
Then Keynsham, with a former England international in midfield, immediately made it 4-2 and added a fifth before the end.
It didn’t seem so cold up in the stand, sitting with a friend who hasn’t missed a Chelsea home match since 1965, but I was glad not to have to wait too long for the train back to Victoria.
Matches this season = 111
Matches in total = 6,771
