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