Banging On About Referees

I was asked tonight by someone whose views on football I very much respect why I keep banging on about refereeing standards at step 5 football in the Midlands.Well the reason is that  as a former ref (At a very amateur level) I enjoy seeing a good performance by the officials almost as much as by the players and I am not seeing that in the Midland League

Business has taken me to the South West a fair bit in the past 12 months as a result of which I have seen a fair few games here at Step 5 in the Western and South West Peninsula League's. Here the quality of the officials is light years ahead of the Midlands,they work as a team use common sense and generally look to make the game an enjoyable experience for those watching and playing

I have raised these observations with the Midland league that their South West cousins are doing things better than them but I didn't even get the courtesy of an acknowledgement let alone a reply. So I will continue to drone on in the vain hope that one day officials in the Midlands will be in the same ball park as those south of Bristol.

The Undiscovered Country

For those not familiar with the Star Trek films the undiscovered country is the future and of course this is going to be about England's future post Brazil 2014.

Although the knives are not out yet there are rumblings and to be honest the names being bandied around totally depress me, we'll give Roy another 2 years to bring on the great crop of youngsters and then either Gary Neville or Gareth Southgate will have been groomed to take over,in other words same old and same old, a nice safe pair of hands who will say the right things in press conferences and not upset the establishment,in other words the same old mistakes we have been making since Alf Ramsey was sacked in 1973.

Why must it be a safe pair of hands or a big name with lots of Champions league and big team experience,that's not been a rousing success over the past 40 years has it so lets think outside the box for once.
You look at the Costa Rica managers CV nothing Champions League there but more importantly Jogi Low, what chance would anybody have becoming England manager with this CV but the Germans saw something

1994	FC Winterthur (youth)
1994–1995	FC Frauenfeld
1995–1996	VfB Stuttgart (assistant)
1996–1998	VfB Stuttgart
1998–1999	Fenerbahçe
1999–2000	Karlsruher SC
2001	Adanaspor
2001–2002	FC Tirol Innsbruck
2003–2004	FK Austria Wien

So why cant we do the same ,why cant we look at Tony Pulis or Kenny Jacket both of whom have a record or turning around total basket cases, why shouldn't Nigel Clough be considered for the job  that his father should have had but never got,the old ways have failed miserably so why not think totally differently and see what happens,it can't be any worse.

And so to the players,we have a great crop of youngsters and new Golden Generation, well sorry but what did the last lot win and really just how good are they, would Welbeck,Jones and Smalling be considered were they not Man Utd players,does Henderson get in an any grounds other than that he plays for Liverpool and don't get me started on Glen Johnson.

Now some will turn around and say what about the Southampton contingent and yes that is refreshing but they had a good season,why weren't players from lower ranked sides taken,Tom Huddlestone of Everton would surely have gone but Tom Huddlestone of Hull well no,back up centre halves well the aforementioned Jones and Smalling have spent the season warming the bench so why not those hardened in the battle of a relegation fight like Curtis Davies or Stephen Caulker,and before you say players at that level aren't good enough I give you the Costa Rica goalscorer yesterday that famous Fulham reject Brian Ruiz.

And why not be even braver and look below the EPL,in 1990 Bobby Robson took a Third Division (Thats League 1 to you youngsters) player to the world cup and Bully didn't look out of place in a side that got to the semi finals, why not try Danny Ings or Jamie Vardy they must be perfectly suited to international football you never know without trying.

But of course none of this will happen the FA are to gutless the media to obsessed with the EPL and Champions League and sadly in many cases to sneering of anything outside the Big 6,so when we fail again in 4 years and probably 8 (We can blame the heat for that) and its same old same old again remember there can be another route to The Undiscovered Country

Book The Plane Home

So its confirmed England are on the way home after Costa Rica's stunning win over the Italians,our most embarrassing result in any World Cup for over 50 years,however its not the team and manager that I want to go on about enough will be said about them over the coming months,no its the reaction of the EXPERTS that my ravings are about today.

Many of you will have heard  Chris Waddles impassioned outburst on Radio 5 live last night berating the almost impossible decline since South Africa,the failure of the FA to use their unimaginable riches to fund coaching and then the embarrassing performances of so many of the players,when the chips were down they went missing.

He does however appear to be a voice crying in the wilderness

Alvin Martin -Plenty of positives to take out of the tournament
Martin O'Neil- I thought England did very well
Henry Winter (A journalist I much admire) Hodgson is doing a good job he must be given more time
The FA- Roy will see his contract out

and on and on they go.

And then you listen to the phone inn's and ;look on Social Media and hear the voice of the fans

Hodgson to negative
Rooney one goal and suddenly he's world class,no way over rated
Gerard ,when he last have a good game for England
Welbeck and Henderson are not the future they get in because of who they play for

So has there ever been such a gulf between the "Experts" and the fans,those who actually pay to get in feel let down and yet their voices appear to be ignored,yes  a large crowd will still turn up at Wembley for the next match because they are the hardy souls who follow through thick and thin in the vain hope that one day it will all come right,the rest of us well we can keep our Plebby mouths shut because we know no better and should leave commenting on England to our betters, Chris Waddle excepted

The Morning After The Night Before

Another Word Cup another failure shown what its all about by a country with a population 1/15th of ours and by a player only 75% fit but don't worry we have a new golden generation coming through and we all know how well the last one did.
I have already heard comments from journalists that its not as bad as we think, well sorry but yes it is, we are the fans who invest our emotions in the England team and yet again let down by a team who go down with little more than a whimper

So where do we go from here, well for a start let's get away from the fallacy that we are a power in world football, a big side because time and time again over the past 10 to 15 years it has been proven that we are not. There will no doubt be a clamour for Hodgson to go and to bring in a big manager, well what justifies the thought that we deserve a big manager, well nothing, Erikson and Cappello came here for one reason and that was the stupid amount of money the FA were prepared to pay, money that could have been spent on grass roots or making it cheaper for promising coaches to get qualified. 
So let's be revolutionary and go for a progressive manager who wants to play the game the right way, is it beyond the realms of possibility that we could dip into the Championship or league 1 for the right man, let’s face it there are sides looking way better than us with managers who have a CV that would be laughed out of court in England

And so to the players and the new Golden Generation, well for a start many of them play in similar positions and therefore unless we continue the failed policy of square pegs in round holes we can't play them all, on 5 Live last night I heard an apoplectic Chris Waddle berating the fact that once again we go down the 11 best players route rather than picking a team.

And the players themselves, well for a start due to the huge influx of foreign players and in many cases a players unfathomable desire to be on the books of a big team rather than play regularly are bench warmers, so let's be really radical and pick players who are regular starters, why not have taken Curtis Davies and Steven Caulker  rather than Jones and Smalling,let's face it the Cardiff player in the Chile side didn't look out of place. Could we even do the unthinkable and go down to the championship to get a regular performer in a specific position.

And finally the attitude, a lot has been said about passion and desire and I am firmly of the opinion that there are players in that and previous squads for whom an England cap means little more than a bargaining chip in their next contract negotiations, for most other nations there is a real desire to do well for their country, we could do worse than use a similar desire as a selection criteria

Sadly I could have written this 4 years ago and I have a horrible feeling that I will be writing it again 4 years from now

The Hype Of That Yellow Shirt

Now I may be premature here and be proven very wrong but I do think that the hype around this current Brazilian side has been proved to be just that,hype,and why do we we seem to think that every 4 years we are going to be royally entertained by the Boys From Brazil.

The most successful side in the history of the tournament yes but the legend was really built in 3 great sides, 1958/62,1970 (The greatest of all time) and 1982 but in between there have been some just OK sides with the odd uber talented player which is what we have this time,take away Neymar ,who is still a way off Messi and Ronaldo, and you have little to inspire .

We tend to forget sides like that of  1974 ,a truly dreadful collection of clogger's as Brazil tried to become more "European" and although reaching the final in 98 they were really a one man (Ronaldo) team.

So forget the hype and judge them as you would any other side

It Was Only a Matter Of Time

Well so far it had been a good world cup ,ignore Honduras they are just minnows in a big pond trying any way to stay afloat, but finally here it is,diving and cheating and players as thick as pigshit.

Yes I'm talking Germany v Portugal and the sniveling little shit that is Thomas Muller, now I watch the Bundesliga regularly and I love it but once the Germans pull on the national shirt its BAFTA time.
Now we know that Pepe is a complete tosser and he deserved to be sent off but the way Muller reacted to a slight touch on the upper body was a complete disgrace/

It may be football Jim but not as we know it

From The Ridiculous To The Sublime

World Cup 2014 didn't really start to well,more incompetent officiating,the entire Cameroon team putting in auditions for a BAFTA  and a feeling that hear we go again

So a repeat of 4 years ago and the nadir of Dutch football did not bode well for the evenings entertainment, well one of the joys of football is the surprises it throws up,
It was one of those games one of those nights that you don't forget,Total Football was back Van Persie supreme,Robben's searing pace destroying an aging Spain so completely it was almost like an old lady being mugged
Will it last will England tonight throw caution to the wind and embrace what the Dutch have,who knows but whatever the rest of the tournament brings last night was a shining light we should never forget

World Cup Up And Diving

In deference to Mrs Cliffs loathing of football I caught up with the opening match on Match Of The Day,as far as the match went not a bad game at all,attractive open football from both sides initially boded well.
However the game will be remembered for a totally incompetent and worrying performance by the ref, Neymars raised arm would normally have been a red,the penalty was a joke of the highest order,what did the ref see that the rest of the planet didn't other than the cheating Fred and how can you foul the keeper when you don't touch him.

Now we are used to poor refereeing performances but it was the inciteful comments of the excellent Tim Vickery that sent a chill down the spine, reporting on the protests he raised the governments nightmare scenario of Brazil going out of the tournament early,
To quote from his report "I don't know if that scenario was on the refs mind but Brazil got even more home decisions than usual,if that is the case we may as well give Brazil the cup now"
We can but hope that this is untrue but in the world of Blatters FIFA who knows.

World Cup 2014 Day 1

And so its here day 1 of the world cup,Brazil v Croatia kicks the whole thing off this evening and leads us into a month of,well a month of what?
A feast of the greatest football the planet has to offer ?
A month of cheating players destroying the beautiful game in its spiritual home ?
A tournament overshadowed by protests from a people disgusted by the financial obscenity of the World Cup in a country where the basics of life are denied to so many?

In reality it will probably be a mixture of all 3 and the proportion of each will determine how posterity views this tournament

My first World Cup memory was 1966 ,yes I am that old,my greatest memory 1970 when as a teenager with a love of the game I watched Brazil,the greatest team in the history of the game define the "Beautiful Game".

Over the years there have been many highs and lows of watching world cups,sadly many of the lows involving England but I have never not looked forward to a World Cup until now,
This is a tournament being played out against a backdrop of massive corruption by the governing body of the game a game run by an old man who cares for himself and hiss mates and how much money they can make rather than the good of the game.Its a tournament involving players so wealthy and pampered that you wonder how in touch with the fans who cheer them on they really are,players to whom the spirit of the sportsmanship appears a dim and distant memory.

This Work Cup is I believe a real crossroads in the history of the game, will the spirit of the beautiful game in its heartland inspire so that our memories will be of silky skills and great joy or of snarling faces and a bending of the rules to breaking point,only time will tell.
I don't expect a Mexico 1970 but hopefully at the end we will be able to say that whatever the problems of organisation and administration that the game itself is still beautiful

Music Is My First Love

So sang John Miles many years ago and if we discount the obvious  fact that the family really come first when we get down to hobby's its the ear candy that is my first love, what I hear you say what about Non League Footy,well a good point and I do love it but if push came to shove I'm afraid Music and Photography would push the Footy into 3rd place although it would be hard.

Anyhow music the soundtrack of my life its whats on in the car as I travel the length and breadth of the country, the joy as I sit tapping away at the computer  keyboard and as I have realised yet again over the past 2 weeks the very best way to spend a night out.

So what has brought this on,well 2 of the best gigs I have been to in my life


17th May 2014
Chantel Mcgregor
Artix Theatre Bromsgrove

I first saw Chantel in August 2007 at a tiny little club in Frodsham and was blown away from the start,over the years I have seen her 6 or 7 times and she has got better and better each time,in the past couple of years she has wont awards for singer and guitar at the British Blues award and been eulogized over by such illuminates as Joe Bonamasa.
In a perfect world she would now be a megastar but sadly nobody's with a tenth of her talent win television programmes and million pound contracts,but hopefully her talent will be recognized in the future.

Anyhow back to the 17th in Bromsgrove and as far as I am concerned the best ever,Chantel has a talented tight band with Keith Mcpartland on drums and Richard Ritchie on bass

From the opening number they were tighter than ever not a note out of place and Chantel's soaring riffs riding smoothly on one of the tightest rhythm sections you will find anywhere (And I saw Zeppelin and Purple Live) .This was one of those nights when you just sit back and let it wash all over you and take you to a higher plain,whilst remembering to take a few photo's


27th May 2014
Robin 2 Bilston
Crippled Black Phoenix

The complete opposite of Chantel a band until 3 days earlier I had never even heard of but when a mate suggested it I thought well why not,what a good decision that was,it was one of those nights that you always remember.
It probably helped that I was at a bit of a low because the support band Liquid Landscape were without doubt one the worst bands I have ever seen but from the first riff of Crippled Black Phoenix you knew you were in for something special.
this is a 7 piece band full of consummate musical talents perfectly honed and at the peak of their powers,as song followed song they got better and better as the power chords and delicate interludes washed around the room

On and on it went ,in the end 3 hours of quite stunning music and the only sadness that they weren't more there to see it

So will either of these superb bands ever make the bigtime,well who knows but even if they never play another gig in their lives and fade into total obscurity I will remember them for the joy they have given me

Music does have the ability to lift the soul like no other and it certainly happened on these  two nights

Really Friendly in Dorset

I have been to a number of matches in the South West recently but not had a great desire to blog many of them,this changed however at Sherborne Town on Wednesday when I arrived at one of the friendliest clubs I have ever visited
I had been in touch in advance to check that photography was ok and received a prompt and pleasant response from club chairman Steve Paradise,on my arrival at the ground I asked for Steve and he gave me a warm welcome,in addition when he found that I had already paid my entrance fee he got it refunded and gave me a complimentary pass.I had neither sought or expected this,after all I was just another Non League fan but this was as I was to discover typical of this club

As I wondered around the ground getting a few scene setting shots many people exchanged pleasantries ,maybe the balmy evening had something to do with this but it was something you often don't experience

As I am trying to control the size of my finely honed physique  it was  just a coffee from the pleasant little refreshment facility although I was sorely tempted to find out what a Sherborne Whopper

As match commenced and I wondered around the ground looking for different angles I got chatting to a lovely guy (Who's name I failed to get) who showed a real interest in what I did and spoke very highly of the Groundhoppers they get in this lovely part of the world.At half time he introduced me to club media officer martin Blatchford who continued the pleasant welcoming feel of the club.

The match itself was an interesting affair that got better as the night drew on and ended with a comfortable 4-1 victory for the hosts,not my greatest set of shots ever but hopefully some that will do credit to Sherborne and Bitton.

So can I wish all success to Sherborne for the rest of the season and thank them for one of the warmest welcomes I have ever had,if you are ever in the area pay them a visit,I guarantee you will enjoy the experience although I'm not sure Steve is always so generous with his complimentary passes

A Great Day Out In Finchley

About 3 years ago  came across the work of a photographer called Martin Addison on Flickr who it turned out was club photographer at Wingate and Finchley FC in the Ryman League,as I admired Martin's work I took the opportunity a few months later to pop along to a match and meet Martin.The meeting was very pleasant but as I only had very basic kit with me the photos were not much cop and I promised myself I would return there in better conditions,that opportunity presented itself last Saturday

Luckily I chose not only a fabulous day weather wise but also a day when the club were hosting a community event so there was plenty going on,at the gate another stalwart of the club Mike Bayly who I had come across in a Non League Facebook group but this was the first time we had actually met,what I did find out was that on match days Mike was a very busy man so our chats were short but also sweet

So before the game i got a chance to have a good look around the ground,the stand above is in fact the oldest cantilever stand in the country, and the fans make sure that you know where you are and who they are supporting

Taking a break in the very pleasant bar i got chatting to a guy who turned out to be a mega groundhopper,Chris Mcann  is a Chesterfield fan who was down for Sundays JPT final and chose W&F for his saturday entertainment,talking to him I found out that he travel's all over the world with England visiting local Non League in the process,a very friendly and interesting bloke

Todays opposition Hornchurch were well supported and a good friendly bunch of fans who took no exception to some visiting midlander pointing his camera at them

And so to the match and sadly although a very enjoyable match W&F stayed in danger of relegation succumbing to a 3-0 defeat in a very open and entertaining match that certainly I as a neutral thoroughly enjoyed.

So although Martin,Mike and the rest of the Wingate fans were left disappointed I had thoroughly enjoyed my day at a very hospitable club ,one with an interesting ground and a great bunch of fans who are a credit to the ryman League Premier,I hope that they survive because they are the sort of club who deserve success.I think that this will be an annual pilgrimage to keep in touch with the lovely people of Wingate and Finchley

PS,this is Martin sneaking away to stop me taking a photo of him

Players Got Wet I Stayed Dry .........Mostly

Another evening staying away on business and another evening where the choice was Nice warm Hotel or Out In The wind And rain,well i am a Non League fan so as ever the answer was the latter.
Tjis time it was a Red Insure Cup match between Hungerford  and Burnham both of the Calor League Premier Division ,on arrival it was still mercifully dry and i received a warm welcome from the staff on the gate who I think with the forecast were grateful that anybody was going to turn up and watch

Hungerford is a pleasant little ground and thankfully on a night like this was going to turn out to be one with pleanty of covered areas to protect from the brewing storm

On a cold night you always judge a club on the quality of its coffee and Hungerford scored well with a good hot cup at a very reasonable price,you realised that you were in Royal Berkshire with the inclusion od sea salt amongst the condiments,don't get that posh in the Black Country

Anyhow the forecast said rain about 8.00 and sure enough just as the teams came out down came the rain,thankfully I was nice and dry under a covered standing area behind one of the goals but thats more than could be said for the players

From the start Hungerford were very much the dominant force and raced into a 3-0 lead,sadly all the goals were at the other end of the pitch and so I got no photos of them,however as Burnham stayed a spirited comeback and pulled the score back to 3-2 I was able to capture at least one of the goals that just crept in through what was now a very sticky goalmouth

Sadly for Burnham this was as close as they got and from then on Hungerford scored on a regular basis finally running out 7-3 winners,as the weather was testing not only my equipment but also my limited skills all i have to show for this goal fest is one rather muted celebration

By the end the pitch was in a pretty rough state and the players must have been looking forward to a nice warm shower

One thing I must say as at the Frome match last week is that the Ref and Linesmen deserve real credit firstly for letting the game go ahead,I have seen games called off in much better conditions,and secondly allowing for the conditions and some pretty fearsome sliding tackles that went in

Oh and the Mostly bit in the title,well I may have stayed nice and dry during the 90 minutes but by the end of the 100 yard walk back to the car I was like a drowned rat

A Night match in Somerset That Evaded The Floods

Working away on business in Somerset I must admit In was not hopeful in getting a match to watch and indeed the Tuesday night proved that with my 2 options of Gillingham and Bridgewater both falling foul of the awful weather.
Wednesday night however proved a glimmer of light as Frome Town were able to confirm that there game was on so I was off on my first visit to the Aldersmith stadium for the visit of Bideford in the calor League Premier division.

As usual I arrived early to get some shots of what is a very pleasant ground and as ever with non league it had at least one character giving all who would listen their views on the team

As I had been delayed at work and unable to get a meal on the way I was relying on getting refreshments at the ground and was pleased that the Burgers and Coffee served by very pleasant staff were excellent,I did hear others saying how good the chips were as well so thumbs up to Frome for that

 As ever at most Non League matches there were a smattering of groundhoppers including a guy I got chatting to who was an AFC Wimbledon  (A club I have long had a soft spot for) fan hailing now from Trowbridge where my company was based,we spent a very pleasant few minutes discussing the joys of Non League football.

Anyhow onto the game and from the start it was a hard fought open and very entertaining match with Frome having much the best of the opening half but unable to convert their territorial superiority into goals despite going close on a few occasions

The flashpoint of the half was a tackle on a Bideford player that had many on the pitch and in the crowd screaming for a red card,I didn't see the incident as I had ,wrongly, anticipated a shot on goal and was focussed on the keeper but taking to other neutrals later I thing the ref got it spot on with a yellow card especially in view of the very slippery conditions,it did however provoke quite a contretemps on the pitch

The second half started  very differently with Bideford very much the dominant force and as I was covering the Frome attack it was at least 10 minutes before I actually took a shot, the match changed though round about the hour as Bideford had a one on one with the keeper that was badly dragged wide and within minutes Frome broke swiftly to get a nailed on penalty that was calmly put away.The pedulum had swung and with Frome in the ascendancy a second goal was not long coming,I missed the goal but got some of the best celebration shots ever.

And so Frome ran out 2-0 winners on a rather damp but very pleasant evening that ended with me being asked to photograph the man of the match

Thanks Frome Town hopefully i will visit you again