St George's lane Before It Ends

Having never been to watch Worcester City I decided as Bank Holiday Monday was free that I had better remedy that as the ground closes at the end of this season, being replaced by houses I believe, so off I went to watch the match v Oxford City.

The ground has real character to it reminding me of the Non League grounds of my youth like Dudley town and Brierley Hill Alliance and although living on borrowed  time still looked well looked after

Like all civilized grounds a good cup of Bovril amongst other usual refreshments was available and it certainly helped keep the cold out on yet another raw Spring day

Worcester have not yet won a match this calender year but despite this a good crowd of over 500 turned up and from the first  kick were vociferous in their support of the home team,this seemed to pa off as Worcester took an early lead much to the delight of the home fans

Despite Oxford equalising before half time Worcester put in a spirited performance regaining the lead before the break and adding another in the second half,Oxford pulled one back but were unable to force an equaliser and it appears I was a lucky charm as they broke their 2013 home duck

The real plus side f the day was bumping into another club photographer Peter Else from Hitchin who I follow on Flickr but had never met,he was in the area visiting family and once gain the benefits of wearing my easily recognizable  AFC Wulfrunians jacket bore fruit,Peter is now a member of the Non League Of Extraordinary Photographers Facebook group,and may the lord have mercy on his soul.

I must say that the Worcester City staff and fans that I spoke to were all extremely pleasant and did not,at least to my face,appear to be down over he fact that home games next  season will involve a 15 mile trip down the A449 to Kidderminster Harriers Aggborough stadium

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I am really pleased that I made the effort to see St George's lane before it goes the way of so many traditional football stadia

helped to keep out the cold on another raw Sp

Kidderminster Harriers 2 Woking 2 (26.03.2013)

As yet another AFC Wulfrunians match fell victim to this awful weather I took the opportunity to pay my first ever visit to Aggborough for a Kidderminster Harriers match,this was a Blue Square Bet Premier fixture ginst Woking Town.As I don’t have a license to photograph Conference matches I had spoken to the the Harriers Media officer about shooting from the standing area and had said he had no problems with this.On arrival I spoke to the stewards about this and they could not have been more helpful confirming all was fine.

As I waited for the match to start I was chatting to a couple of Harriers fans really nice friendly people who were interested in what I was doing and also in AFC Wulfrunins as I had my club coat on, well it’s nice and warm on a cold March night. This ws the sort of really friendly rapport I have come to know pretty well right across the Non League spectrum

I was aware that not only my friend Gary Griffiths (Ace football photographer despite using a Nikon) but also David Holmes Woking club photographer and a contact through the Facebook Non League Of Extraordinary Photographers group (We are a modest lot) would both be there so I would not be alone and I introduced myself and got chatting to David early on in the match, at half time Gary was able to come over and as photographers do we put the world of football to rights.

The match ended disappointingly for me but happily for David in a 2-2 draw that put a slight dent in Kidderminster’s title aspirations but it a most enjoyable night a a very friendly club and I will ensure yesterday was not my last visit

A Snowy Night At Albion Rovers

Business took me up to Glasgow and initially a plan to go along to the Scottish First division match between Livingston and Hamilton Academicals, but the weather put paid to that,luckily the Division 2 clash  between Albion Rovers and East Fife had survived the weather so a trip to Cliftonhill Stadium in Coatbridge it was.


Albion Rovers are not having the best of seasons and currently sit bottom of the Second  Division 11 points from safety and 9 behind visitors East Fife,in addition its propbably the worst time for a small club to get relegated as they will more than likely miss out on the cash cow that are fixtures against Third Division leaders and presumptive champions Glasgow Rangers.

Cliftonhill is a rather faded stadium and I understand that one stand has been condemned and fans are banned from it,didn't stop them putting the club videographers there but I suppose they are expendable. I was made most welcome firstly by the ground security staff and secondly by Albion's club photographer Paul Reilly 


It was snowing before kick off and didn't relent during the match just relenting in intensity ans so I went over with Paul to the "Condemned Stand" side for the first half,Paul has had the common sense to get a waterproof camera and lens cover,a purchase I now know I need to make and so I was frantically taking shots and wiping snow from the lens every few seconds

What was pleasant was that Scotland has not gone down the false handshake before thee match routine forced on so many levels of English football,players and ref ran out as so many of us of a certain age knew from our youth

The match wasn't the most fluid ever seen but both sides gave everything and showed no little skill in coping with very difficult conditions, Albion took the lead after half an hour with a scrambled effort from Christopher Dallas but failed to capitalise and were pegged back before half time when Paul Willis hit an absolute screamer from 25 yards that Albion's keeper Scully could not get near.

I was wearing my AFC Wulfrunians jacket and at half time was approached by another spectator who asked in broad Black Country was I from the Wolverhampton area ,it's definitely a small world

As the second half progressed the conditions got worse and I wimped out hiding behind a wall to keep self and camera dry and popping my head out to get the occasional shot,got some good ones though so may try this technique again in the future

The match ended 1-1 Albion Rovers are almost certainly going to be relegated but hopefully I will return there again,the fans were friendly and vociferous, the team played football in the way I appreciate and similar to Non League in England there were no histrionics and Prima Donna behaviour,good luck for the future Albion Rovers

Farewell To Jessops

So the great monolith of photographic retail is no more and sadly thousands of peoples jobs have gone with it as well , many will not shed a tear because if you cant compete in the market place then you have to go under,I however will be sad that Jessops is no more.

Firstly however I will not be sad that Jessops as it is now has gone , the overblown retailer who had long forgotten where there core market was who employed many staff who wouldn't know a camera if it hit them and who had a pricing structure ,even on the internet, that was bound to drive  customers into the arms of the competition.
No the Jessops I will mourn is the one that I knew 20-30 years ago as my love of photography grew,the Jessops that had a thriving second hand section,where you could go in and talk to knowledgeable staff about the most obscure bit of photographic equipment and where if you wanted a new camera or lens they would have one in stock for you to try out.
Now maybe that's looking at the past through rose tinted specs but there are Camera shops that  that still thrive with that model, Mifsuds in Brixham, Walters across the North West and the excellent Walters in the Welsh Valleys.Could Jessops have survived had they not tried to be all things to all men I don't know,I am no economist all I do know is that they changed from a retailer I loved to one I wouldn't touch with a barge pole and if that was replicated across thousands of other loyal customers of the past then they have only themselves to blame

I'm Saddened For Young Fans Today

Today is FA Cup third round day a day that should be the most magical in the football calender,a day that when I was growing up sent a tingle down the spine as we watched the mighty take on the minnows and prepared for another cup upset. Those of us of a certain age remember Ronnie Radford (Hereford v Newcastle) ,Tim Buzaglio (West Brom v Woking) Matthew Hanlan (Sutton v Coventry) and many more who had their days of glory in quite unbelievable results

Well today there may well be some upsets, Luton v Wolves, Macclesfield v Cardiff or even Hastings at Middlesbrough but will they quite have the same feel as they did in years gone by,we all know that not just the big boys but many clubs lower down the EPL and Championship treat the cup with contempt as they chase the almighty Sky dollar and that saddens me not just for the fans but also for the players of the giant killing clubs.
Yes they will have their win but you can pretty well guarantee it will be tinged with "Weakened Opposition" syndrome as I doubt that Wolves,Cardiff or Middlesbrough will have anything like full strength sides out.

So to all fans following their teams this weekend  and the neutrals hoping for a giant killing good luck and enjoy your day if you pull it off  but sadly it wont mean quite as much as it did in the past

Why Cant Our Footballers Be More Like Lionel

As we sat through the fabulous summer of sport and gloried in the performances of Mo,Jess,Wiggo & Froomy,Andy and the Paralympians, Cricketers and Golfers how often did we say "If only our footballers could perform and behave in such a manner" and we hoped against hope that the stars of the Premier League would look at the response to other sportsmen and women and maybe change their ways.

Well it was a vain hope as we have seen from abuse of referees,cheating and only today a manager and player getting involved in a brawl, the apologists say "Well football is a different game with different pressures to other sports",now that may be correct, but football does have a player who can be held up alongside all the sportsmen and women of the glorious summer.

He's not a journeyman player from a small club of someone looked on fondly as their career comes to an end he is of course the greatest player on the planet Lionel Messi.
To watch Messi show off his range of skills is a joy but even more impressive is everything else he does
No diving
No manufactured goal celebrations just a smile and the congratulations of team mates
No rolling around as if shot when fouled he just gets up and gets on with the game
Loyalty ,now you may say that being loyal to possibly  the best club side in the history of the game but I can think of many who if offered the sort of salary that the petro dollars of clubs like PSG,Anzi and Manchester City,a salary that would make his current income seem like income support would d have grabbed the mighty dollar and run like hell.

So to all those who dive and snarl and bring ugliness to the beautiful game you have a role model to emulate because not only is he better behaved than you he is by a country mile a better player than you.

New Years day At Halesowen Town

Not a resolution but a plan to widen my knowledge of other non league clubs in the locality by getting along to their matches when my beloved AFC Wulfrunians are either not playing or a bit to far away to travel.

So today and to resurrect a tradition from my youth it was off to a match at Evo Stick Division 1 South side Halesowen Town for their match with Chasetown

Now I am not going to be a groundhopper with loads of statistics all I would say that it was a very enjoyable day,Halesowen play the type of football I enjoy the ground is compact and the stand on the left of the photo shelters you nicely from a rather brisk prevailing wind,in addition the coffee is excellent and I am assured by a friend that the Burgers are the same.

The match ended in a highly entertaining 1-1 draw and I will most certainly pay another visit to The Grove when I get the chance, that's if they'l have me .