AFC Liverpool 2 West Didsbury 2 North West Counties League (06.11.2013)

So still staying over in Liverpool and the night after photographing Albert Docks I was back on the more familiar ground of Non League football with a trip to watch AFC Liverpool host West Didsbury,AFC were founded not as a protest club like FC United of Manchester but as a home for Liverpool fans who were finding the price of modern football to much,footy for a fiver was how press officer Alan Harrison described it as.
So AFC don't have their own ground but share with their landlords Prescott Cables,the ground is one one of those faded but homely places that is one of the reasons so many of us follow non league

The downside of the night was the weather the incessant rain that lasted until about 10 minutes from the end of the match but to the great credit of the players it didn't stop them putting on a highly entertaining match

 From the start of the game AFC as per their higher league position were the more dominant side but it took a while before their dominance paid off and they took a 1-0 lead,by some miracle your photographer actually got a shot of the goal and the celebrations

I was actually not the only visual media there as AFC sport like my own club AFC Wulfrunians a photographer and videographer,quite a rarity in non league football from my experience,both guys like everybody else at the club extremely friendly.

So  half time arrived with AFC only 1-0 up and I was invited into the board room for refreshments,told you these guys were friendly, and a very nice spread it was as well.

And so to the second half and AFC continued their dominance and doubled their lead with a quite superb strike from some 20 yards,I think at this point most of the crowd thought that was game set and match,it was actually the start of an amazing turnaround as within minutes West Didsbury had pulled a goal  back  with an even better strike from at least 30yards.This inspired the visitors who took almost total control and it was no surprise when they drew level from the penalty spot

After that although Didsbury posed the greater threat both sides could have claimed all three points but with honours even after 90 minutes West Didsbury were obviously the happier side

So despite the weather a very enjoyable evening and another fine example of the friendly family that is non league football

A Stroll Around Liverpool Docks with Graham

Staying up in Liverpool on business I was not far from my colleague Graham Seaman  and the initial plan was just to have a pint,however as it was a nice evening and Graham knows I never go anywhere without my camera so he suggested a night photography session.
The night didn't get off to a good start as the Anglican cathedral usually floodlit was in darkness as there was a film crew inside.so off down to the docks area.

Well I'm not a great night photographer but you really cant go wrong here because there were images demanding to be captured right from the start

Liverpool has a wheel as well as London

You also get attractive young Irish ladies who

forgot their cameras wanting you to take photographs of them,annoyingly so did their Partners.Brothers.fathers and Uncles

  Also by the wheel is a sculpture musically inspired and dedicated to John Lennon and it was crying out to be photographed

Moving around to the Albert docks you get more mundane objects that you would ignore from a photographic point of view in daylight but they take on a completely new identity in the artificial light of the night

Before ending the evening with the pint that was the original plan Graham insisted that photograph the 3 Graces ,that is The Royal Liver Building, The Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building, hopefully I have done credit to these beautiful structures that dominate the Liverpool waterfront

So a pint at the Pump House and the evening was over,well not quite,I still had to prove what every tourist knows only to well.there's always a bloody photographer getting in the way of what you want to photograph

First Look At the Toolstation Western League 9th October 2013

Sorry for the delay in posting a bit about my trip to Westbury v Bradford Town but its been a bit hectic recently.

Anyhow a whole week at my head office in Trowbridge gave me the chance to visit a ground and a league i'd not seen before,Westbury Utd were hosting league leaders and local rivals Bradford Town,I must say in my defence that due to the incompetence of the Tamron service department i have been missing my 70-200 f2.8 for 6 weeks and so was restricted to the Tamron 17-50 f2.8,not exactly a sports lens.

On a pleasant evening I and a couple of colleagues travelled down from Trowbridge,got slightly lost when a closed road confused the Sat Nav but parking right outside the ground was easy and we found a pleasant little ground awaiting us

 Although as I have said previously it was a very pleasant evening one of mu colleagues had forgotten her coat so despite being half my size she borrowed my rather unflattering coat

From the kick off Bradford showed their title credentials by dominating play and itb was no surprise when they took the lead after about 20 minutes,their players unlike my lads were generous enough to celebrate on my side of the pitch rather than running off into the distance as is my usual experience

As the game wore on Westbury had a few half chances but never really looked like drawing level and it was no surprise when soon after half time Bradford scored a second and really just ran down the clock to collect 3 well deserved points

A couple of amusing sights were firstly the cafe culture seating in front of the "Stand behind their goal and secondly the arrival  of the local cycling club to watch the second half from behind the goal

All in all a very pleasant evening at a welcoming club,i would say that Step 6 in this area is slightly below the standard of Step 6 in the West Midlands but it was an entertaining and pleasant evening

The Joys Of Transfer Deadline Day

So another transfer deadline day is over and Talk Sport and Sky Sports presenters can stop at least until the weekend shrieking in hysterical tones as if the transfer of Frederico  Bollango from Verona to Hull city was the greatest event n the planet since the birth of Christ.

If ever there was something that expresses the madness of modern football at the highest level it is the end of the Summer transfer window, dont get me wrong  have no problem with the window as a concept, at least it stops all the tapping up and tedious press speculation during the rest of the season but there are some major problems.

1) Why does it not end before the season starts to stop the panic buying at the end of August just because a team has not won their first 3 or 4 matches 10-0

2) How can major teams leave it so late to sort out vital staffing decisions that will affect their performance and success both sportingly and financially in the year to come, in the case of Manchester Utd,  Arsenal and Everton leaving it until the final few minutes. Surely they would have identified their needs soon after the end of last season and planned their feasible targets rather than going off on unachievable wild goose chases for the likes of Fabregas and Suarez.

This particular last day has of course highlighted the greatest obscenity of modern football that being the chasm between the haves and the have nots, on the day that Gareth Bale moved for gazillions Kettering Town went out of business for the amount of money Bale will earn every 36 hours, there has to something seriously wrong with a sport where that can happen.

And then back to where I started and the broadcast media hyping the whole day up to a ludicrous extent and often getting it wrong, this years gem was Stan Collymore on Talk Sport all but staking the life of his entire family on Romalu Lokaku going back to West Brom on loan (Don’t get me going on season long loans especially between EPL teams) ,sadly he was not on air when the Belgian signed on the dotted line for Everton.It must be time for radio and TV to employ qualified journalists rather than some footballer recently retired who can just about put a sentence together without going You Know

Getting People Through Those Non League Gates

I have just been reading an article in When Saturday Comes about the opportunity  Non League clubs in Coventry have to swell their attendances as disenfranchised Coventry City fans who don't want to travel to Northampton look for somewhere to go,its not however the likes of Coventry Sphinx who need to look to attract more fans of League clubs/

I would guess that the majority of fans of League clubs are homers,I certainly was years go when I followed Wolves, with the exception of Vila,Blues and Sandwell Town I never went away so every other week I had a free Saturday and many of those free Saturdays before I started playing were spent watching Dudley Town which was only 10 minutes walk from my front door.

So how do Non League clubs especially at the lower levels look to attract these "Homers", well fans at my own club AFC Wulfrunians have recently walked the streets of the locality doing a leaflet drop to try to attract fans and , I have seen on Twitter another MFA team Boldmere St Michaels  offering discounted entry to Villa season ticket holders for certain games,no doubt across the country there are many other clubs doing similar things Is there even a possibility that the "Big" clubs themselves do something to support lower level Non League by being approached to advertise in their programmed  about local non league clubs that their "Homers might like to go and watch?

So if we do manage to get new fans through the door how do we keep them, well without being arrogant I don't think that  will be a major problem,we have a good "product" with lots of competitive games and not a small amount of skill on display, in addition if my experience at many grounds across the country is anything to go buy new fans will be made very welcome.

So lets hope with inventive thinking we can get new fans through the gate even if they re only every other week because every bit of support and every penny counts

Its Not Just All About The Players

So pre season friendlies are in full swing the anticipation of  new season mounts and the prime concern for many in the non league game is
Who have we signed ?,
Who have we let go?
 and have we improved the team to build on last seasons successes or improve on last seasons failures.

Questions that are less often asked are
Do we have the same match secretary?
Has the weather hindered the groundsmans work ?
Do we have enough people to man the gate on matchday?

We all know that it is the players and mangers that are of vital importance to any club and its the guys who cross the white lines that the fans pay to see but in an era when even players at Step 6 can command 3 figure match fees we need to remember those behind the scenes who give up their own time for free and without whom the club just wouldn't be able to function.
Maybe the word club needs to be emphasised more ,it is a Football Club a combination of Players,management and behind the scenes organisers and it is only when all three come together that you get a really successful club

So although the match secretary wont get a standing ovation for handing the team to the ref on time and nobody will applaud the gateman for giving them the right change remember their part in the overall picture when your captain lifts the League Trophy or your recently signed centre forward gets the goal that saves you from relegation,it is a team game and that the team is more than just the guys with numbers on their backs

Football Travels Start Again

What you I hear some of you shout not that bloody football season already, well for those who don't appreciate the beautiful game I realise it may be a shock but pre season friendlies are up and running, as with last season when staying away on business I am trying to get to see a local Non League team and in this case  it was a visit to Champion Hill to see Dulwich Hamlet,last seasons Isthmian League Champions take on League 2 opposition in Dagenham and Redbridge

Now pre season friendlies take many forms and this was one of those games of 2 halves with multiple substitutions and giving trialists and new signings a chance to start attaining match fitness along with the seasoned regulars

The Daggers had the best of the first half as befitted their loftier league status and deservedly lead 1-0 at half time,the second half changes however benefitted the hosts more and 2 goals lead to Dulwich ending the match as 2-1 winners,the result is never really important in these games as its a way of bedding in new signings and regaining match fitness for the travails of the next 9 months

More importantly from a personal point of view was the chance to meet for the first time some members of the facebook Non League Of Extraordinary Photographers group namely Mishi Morath, Laraine Bateman and David Purdey who were all there in varying capacities,as with others of the group I have met they were really nice people who like me shared a love of photography and non league football.

Champion Hill itself is a modern ground built in 1993 adjacent to the local Sainsbury's but very pleasant with a loyal and very vociferous following , the club itself is much older celebrating it's 120th anniversary this year,catering is well catered for with 3 refreshment stall around the ground and I must  say that the burgers were as good as I have had at any football ground.

So a very pleasant start to this years football travels and I hopefully will return to Champion Hill one day to see a competitive match

There Was A War On You Know

This weekend and next the of the 1940's etc  Severn Valley Railway have been putting on one of their regular and very successful 1940's weekends with re-enactors, music of the period and of course loads of steam trains.They are always well attended not just by those who lived in that era but also by many of the younger generations and although very sanitised you like to think they give an impression of what life was like all those years ago

However this year I have noticed many posts on Social Media from younger attendees saying how great the fashions were and how "Cool" the soldiers looked in their uniforms and more than one saying how much they would have liked to have lived at that time,this got me wondering do they realise .the reason for so many military re-enactors at these events is that we were fighting for our very existence

Maybe I am misreading the posts but it may be a worry that a whole generation despite things like Armed Forces day are forgetting  or never being told that the 1940's was a time of mass death and destruction and even when that was over a period of hardship with rationing and the efforts of reconstruction the norm.
The fashions may have been cool but life at that time was most definately not

England Team Is In The Dark Ages

After last nights dire performance against those giants of the world game the Republic Of Ireland Gary Linekar has been scathing of England declaring " it was a tactically regressive display from Roy Hodgson's side, describing it as "a step back to the dark ages of two lines of four".,

So why has the England team become one of the most tedious predictable and uninspiring sides in world football that if we are honest has not produced a side to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck since Euro 96,well look at the following list of names that may give a clue

Tony Currie
Rodney Marsh
Stan Bowles
Frank Worthington
Matthew Le Tissier
Glen Hoddle
Chris Waddle
Steve Mcmanamen

What do all these players of the last 30 years have in common,well 2 things firstly they were players of immense flair and secondly to varying degrees they were either underused or not used at all by their country.
Most countries would have build their teams around these players but England underused them with the usual excuse that their work rate was not good enough they were not team players etc etc,as a result England has more and more become a team of journeymen.
Look at the "Stars" of the last 15 years the so called Golden Generation and the 2 members of that group who have been idolised Steven Gerard and David Beckham,both of these are hard working players who will run all day and give their all for the team but rarely have they come up with the touch of inspiration that makes you gasp ,in fact the most skillful player of that group Paul Scholes was as with other marginalised and played out of position so often that in the end he gave up on his country.

So what has this to do with the current state of the team,well basically the "idols" of the last 15 years have not been the players of skill and flair but the hard workers the blood and guts true englishmen type of player and this is what has inspired the new generation.
So until we encourage the flair player again the maverick  who will inspire we will never produce  a Messi or Ronaldo a Hazard or a Mata and will continue to trundle along on the fringes of world football,and more importantly if we do produce one of these gems by luck more than judgement we must allow them to flourish and build the side around them not marginalise them as has happened so often in the past

Photography As A Business Is Tough

As anyone who reads my ramblings will know apart from the occasional wedding for friends and family my photography is purely a hobby,one that takes up a lot of my spare time but its not my source of income, well last saturday I had a small taste of what life would be like were it a business.

A friend of mine the excellent photographer Garry Griffiths of 353 Photography asked me to help him out with a double booking that he had,it wasn't a mammoth amount of work just photographing 2 Junior League finals in Rugby,just over 6 hours work.So off I trundled met Garry at the first match got the idea of what was required and settled down to do my 2 matches.

Now technically this was nothing that I hadn't done before Team shots, Ref and Captains,Action shots during the match and Presentation and Celebrations at the end, the difference is that always in the back of the mind is the thought that someone is paying for this and you can't afford to get it wrong ,in addition I didn't want to let Garry down.

Well it all got done and i think the shots were ok but I now have so much more respect for the pro's who earn their living at this level,mine was just one day and i felt the pressure what it must be like for those like Garry who do it day in and day out,it all looks very glamorous when you are pitchside at a Wembley final but its the nitty gritty of the daily grind that pays the bills.

So the odd occasion to help a mate is fine but as the day job well I'll leave that to the experts and stick to doing it for fun

To The Far North Of Our Islands

The companies most northerly customer is also as far north as you can get in this country that place being the Shetland Islands, can I say from the start that I am a big fan having been about 6 times now I love the scenery,the wildlife,the food and especially the people so this is a totally biased blog on my 3 days there this month.

Going this far north at this time of year also means lots of lovely light with the sun not setting until around 10.00 so its a leisurely meal after work and still chance to get out and get some photographs or at the other end of the day pickies before heading off to work even if thats an early start.

So really a chronological look in pictures through my few days

Tuesday April 30th arrived at the hotel unpacked and then had a stroll around Scalloway,not a long stroll because its a very small place but a pleasant location as is much of Shetland

Wednesday morning beautiful sunshine so a quick pull in above the town on the way to work to look at Scalloway from a different angle

Arrived at the office a few minutes early so as it's on the waterfront at Lerwick another chance to grab a few quick shots,in shot 3 the square object on the right is a Floating Hotel brought in to house the extra influx of oil workers at this time of year

In the evening it was a trip to the 2 adjoining islands of Trondra and Burra near Scalloway connected by single track bridges,some great scenery but the downside is that most of the roads are single track with passing places so the opportunity to stop and take shots are limited

Now Wednesday evening was a bit different,as anyone who reads my ramblings on a regular basis knows i do like to get to see local football whenever the chance presents itself  and luckily the Shetland League that is  Spring and Summer oriented for obvious reasons was just getting under way,I had a number of options but plumped for the interestingly named Spurs B playing their reserve league match against Scalloway B.The standard as you would expect with a small population to draw from is not great but what the players lacked in ability they more than made up for with enthusiasm and an almost pathological sense of good sportsmanship,the downside from my angle was that I had not come equipped for a howling wind and snow flurries so I chickened out at half time and missed Spurs third goal in their 3-0 win.

And so to Thursday and the journey home and sadly the massed ranks of Puffins and other Sea Birds that I have seen at Sumburgh Head near the airport in the past have not yet arrived so all I got was a few shots around the Sumburgh area before I flew out

First Time Down South

Another day another business trip and this time staying over in Kent and the nearest match was the Kent League clash between Beckenham Town and VCD Athletic,on paper a match that should be fairly straightforward for league leaders VCD and so it proved.

Anyhow first things first and if you ever do go to Beckenham follow the map instructions on the website rather than putting the postcode into the sat nav or you will get lost like I did, when I did get there though I found a very pleasant ground with 2 small stands either side of the pitch and a lovely wooden clubhouse that has more of a cricket pavillion feel about it than a football ground

I must make special mention of the refreshment stall run by a very pleasant lady and prices about half of what I would expect to pay at this level of football,a very pleasant surprise

Something that was a bit quirky was that as there is not a tunnel from the changing rooms the players lined up  outside,well it was a very pleasant night but I bet this is no fun on a cold December afternoon, I still reckon the Scots have the right idea ,toss up in the changing rooms get out onto the pitch without the false handshakes and get on with the match

Anyhow onto the match and the expected result proved to be so and more as VCD took control from the off lead with an early penalty and went on to score 7 past the hapless hosts,to be honest it could have been more because the Beckenham defence seemed clueless in the face of the swift open attacking play that VCD employed.

 A plus point of the evening from a personal point of view was that I could combine my 3 loves of Photography, Football and railways as a very busy main line runs right at the back of the clubhouse

One downside to end on is that this was not the most welcoming club I have ever been to, I introduced myself to a group of officials explaining who I was checking that photography of the match was ok (They had not replied to my Tweets a la Partick Thistle) got a rather curt yes and from the club photographer a yes we are the team in red and I hate Nikon,lucky that I use Canon then.

So an interesting if not entirely pleasurable evening another new team ticked off but unlikely to be one I will visit again