Harold Wood - Harold Wood Park

Harold Wood Athletic FC

Harold Wood Park

Harold View

Romford

Greater London

RM3 0LX

Official Website

FA Full Time Page

Twitter

Ground Number: 1301
Wednesday 24th April 2024

Harold Wood Athletic 1-4 Shenfield

Essex Olympian Premier

HAROLD WOOD ATHLETIC FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1908 and has been based at Harold Wood Recreation Park since its inception. They were affiliated to the Essex FA in 1919, joining the Ilford & District League around the same time. From 1923 until 1926, they played in the Romford & District league but withdrew midway through the following season. After a couple of seasons away they rejoined in 1928 and remained until 1950 aside from the war years. Their last season here saw them win a league and cup double. They then joined the Southern Essex Combination League where they remained until 1977. They won Division 1 in 1962 and three Premier Division titles in later years.

After this, they joined the Essex Olympian League. A 4th place finish in 1984 was an early highlight and they remained in the top tier until they were relegated in 1990. Harold Wood would only spend a single season away before being promoted back behind Concord Rangers and Great Baddow Royals. Relegated again in 1994, they would remain in the second tier until the turn of the millennium when they were promoted back behind Nortel (Harlow). They remained in what is now called the Essex Olympian Premier for many years, winning the title in 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2015. Harold Wood were relegated again in 2022 but bounced back last season when they finished as runners-up behind Old Chelmsfordians. This season sees them down the bottom of the table but with plenty of games in hand to recover. Local cup wins include the Essex Premier Cup in 2017 despite losing to Catholic United due to them fielding an intelligible player, the Essex Olympian Senior Challenge Cup in 2011 three Romford Charity Cups and three South Essex Intermediate Cups.

Harold Wood is a suburban neighbourhood in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is situated 16.5 miles northeast of Charing Cross. Harold Wood was part of the ancient parish of Hornchurch, which became the Liberty of Havering. Most of the current area of Harold Wood became part of Hornchurch Urban District in 1926. It is near to the Greater London boundary with Essex. The name Harold Wood was recorded in about 1237, when it was shown as Horalds Wood. It was named after King Harold Godwinson, who was defeated by William the Conqueror in 1066. He held the surrounding manor of Havering-atte-Bower. Some of the original roads are named after Anglo-Saxon kings such as Æthelstan and Alfred the Great. Harold Wood railway station is situated on the Great Eastern Main Line. It is served by Elizabeth line trains running between Shenfield and Paddington via Whitechapel, Liverpool Street, Farringdon and Tottenham Court Road. The nearest tube stations to Harold Wood are Upminster Bridge and Hornchurch, both on the District line.

MY VISIT

This game was decided upon on the Thursday before. Originally, I'd been considering going to a Middlesex, Oxfordshire or Bedfordshire league game. However, I was fed up of having to do all the driving and noth having time to edit some of this blog whilst I was on the move. For that reason, I opted to do a game in the Essex Olympian League that fellow hopper Daniel had spotted. He was going to do it if Braintree weren't playing, a rare occasion of him actually going to see them play with it being a playoff game. They would have been playing on Wednesday if results went their way but they failed to beat Eastbourne Borough on Saturday and had to play on Tuesday. I'd seen the side win impressively at Kelvedon Hatch recently and both teams were pretty sociable on Twitter. Therefore it was a no-brainer to go and I could even tie in a visit to Chadwell Heath Wetherspoons for food.

From my game last night at Alcester, it was a fairly simple drive home. We listened to the Cambridge United 1-1 Wycombe Wanderers commentary before I dropped Anwar off and I was back home at 10.15. I'd sorted my pictures and uploaded my blog by 11 although it took me over an hour to get to sleep. The 5 am alarm was most unwelcome and I was hoping that work would be smooth. Not for the first time, Daniel lived up to his surname of Turner and decided against coming. Though with a late night the day before and a 2.30 alarm, I couldn't really blame him. I was glad when I got out at 12, giving me nearly a couple of hours at home. I got a few things done as well as having lunch before leaving at 2.20. I was at the station well in advance after finding a parking space.

It was a simple journey, Metropolitan to Moorgate, walk to Liverpool Street, Elizabeth to Chadwell Heath. The first train was fairly quiet and the journey passed quickly with me playing my Berwick Rangers Championship Manager 97/98 save. The people thinned out as we got out of London. I was able to resume and secure promotion with three games to go, albeit only on the runners up spot. I was at Chadwell Heath by 4.30. Wetherspoons 326 was the Eva Hart, named after one of the longest-living Titanic survivors who lived in the area. It was nothing special but a pint of Strongbow at £2.80 was good value. It was then a shawarma wrap, chips and a bottle of Aspalls for £8.67. This was all superb and left me in a decent mood. It was five minutes back to the station and a few minutes wait for the train. I was at Harold Wood by 5.50 and via a shop and a Turkish chocolate cake, I was at the ground at 6. Fellow hopper Richard was in attendance as was Neil, the pretend commentator. Of course, the 18:15 kick-off started at 18:34 but it is hard to get from work in time for these sorts of kick-offs.

Harold Wood Athletic were in 13th whilst Shenfield were in 6th. The hosts had lost both their games since I'd seen them win 4-0 at Kelvedon Hatch on 6th April. This included a costly 3-2 loss at fellow strugglers Canning Town on Saturday. Shenfield, a couple of stops down the Elizabeth Line were unbeaten in three league games. On Saturday they had also won 3-2 at Sungate in the Anagram Records Trophy. Shenfield started the strongest but then Harold Wood had a good spell. On 23 minutes, Shenfield took the lead, a close-range Frankie Fealty finish from a cross. On 28 minutes, the visitors led 2-0, Luke Williamson bundling home the ball at the far post from a right-sided corner. After a six-minute halftime, the game resumed at 7.25. Harold Wood had a brief spell at the start of the second half but on the hour it was 3-0 following a well-worked move, Fealty getting his second. On 79 minutes, the hosts finally showed a bit of quality, a shot on the turn from the edge of the area, the strike of the game so far. However, on 82 minutes, Shenfield bettered the goal from a similar position to make it 4-1, Louie Young the scorer.

There were 47 in attendance, quite impressive for the venue. A number of hoppers were in attendance and I was in good company of Richard and Neil. It was nippy and dark by the end and the late start meant I was going to get home half an hour later. There was the possibility of a game in Wales on Friday at Aberbargoed Buds. I intended to revisit CB Hounslow, but the game was moved back a few weeks. It would depend on others coming though. It was ten minutes back to Harold Wood. I could have changed at Romford to get back quicker but it seemed pointless when I would be waiting for the Amersham train anyway. If all went according to plan,. I'd have this blog done on the train home, get back to Amersham at 22:24 and be back home by 22:45.

THE GROUND

HAROLD WOOD PARK is a very basic venue but a pleasant place to watch a game. It's a world apart from the mainline station less than ten minutes walk away where there are a range of shops and takeaways. The pitch, as the name states is in a prk with other football pitches and a cricket field. There is no hard standing but there are benches and a few benches near the pitch. Near the cricket square, there is a clubhouse, this has a bar, snacks and other facilities. There are also a number of pennants and other stuff from the various clubs that use the facilities. 

Alcester Town - Stratford Road

Alcester Town FC

Stratford Road

Alcester

Warwickshire

B49 6LN

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1300
Tuesday 23rd April 2024
Alcester Town 0-1 AFC Coventry Rangers

Midland D2

ALCESTER TOWN FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established after the First World War as Alcester Old Boys,  a team for former pupils of Alcester Grammar School. In 1927 they joined the Stratford League and were renamed Alcester Juniors. In the 1950s the club adopted their current name. They joined the Eastern Division of the Warwickshire Combination in 1962, where they played for three seasons before transferring to the Worcestershire Combination in 1965. The league was renamed the Midland Combination three years later. In 1972 they finished as Division Two runners-up behind Highgate United Reserves. In 1983, the division was renamed Division 1 but in 1989 they were relegated to a new Division 2. Alcester bounced back straight away, finishing as runners-up to Pershore Town. They followed that up with the Division 1 title the following season, earning them promotion to the Premier Division. They spent a couple of years here before folding due to being unable to bring their ground up to standard. It would take them until 2007 to reform and start playing in the Stratford Alliance. Starting in Division 3, they won the title in 2009 and progressed up the leagues, winning the Premier Division in 2012. Following this, they joined the Midland Combination Division 2. In 2014, this was absorbed into the Midland League with Alcester placed in Division 3. They won the title in 2019 and have been in the step 7 Division 2 ever since.

Alcester Town entered the FA Vase a couple of times in the mid-70s but lost both ties. Alcester is a market town in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire. It is 8 miles west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 7 miles south of Redditch. The town dates back to the times of Roman Britain and is located at the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow. It has a population of around 6,000. Alcester was founded by the Romans in around AD 47 as a walled fort. The walled town, possibly named Alauna developed from the military camp. It was sited on Icknield Street, a Roman road that ran the length of Roman Britain from southwest England to south Yorkshire. The River Alne and Arrow, which join on the outskirts of Alcester, have occasionally flooded and on a few occasions engulfed part of the town. The last occurrences were in 1956, 10 April 1998 (Maunday Thursday) and on 21 July 2007 when 200 homes were left uninhabitable.[21] In response to the severe flooding of 2007, the Alcester flood scheme completed an underground storage tank with a 3.25 million litre capacity in June 2011, costing just over £1 million.

MY VISIT

This game was decided upon on Saturday night. I was in Basingstoke, between trains and looking for something decent to mark ground number 1300. I already knew I would be without Colin who had opted to go with Richard to Great Wakering Rovers on Tuesday. I messaged Anwar to see if he fancied doing Alcester Town v AFC Coventry Rangers. Happily, he accepted, meaning that I would have some company and help with the fuel costs. It had been a delightful Saturday and would be another busy week. As with last week, Sunday was easy to get through a nine-hour shift with me in a good mood. It was still nice when we got to 4 PM though and I could listen to the football. It was an epic game with Manchester United racing into a 3-0 lead before Coventry City come back to 3-3 in the last 20 minutes in an FA Cup classic. Coventry were desperately unlucky not to win the game, eventually going out on penalties. It was quite a day for football with the Nottingham Forest Twitter admin having a meltdown after decisions went against them. There was also the sad situation of Gateshead being denied the opportunity to compete in the playoffs because they lacked a ten-year tenancy on their ground. Funnily enough, the EFL didn't object to Coventry sharing at Northampton for a season, nor Rotherham or Brighton's temporary homes and they have come back a lot stronger thankfully.

Monday was a busy day at work and I volunteered to stay on for a couple of hours. Certainly not for the company but for my managers who are decent and don't deserve to be left in the lurch. Either way, I was glad of some time off. I had a fairly decent night's sleep It was my usual walk down Wycombe and I ended up buying so much, I got the bus home. After relaxing at home, I left at 3.45. The journey over to Anwar in Aylesbury and the resulting journey to Alcester were both decent and we were there at 5.45. The High Street looked great all done up for St George's Day but the parking was very busy. We went around the corner to Waitrose to park before I headed to China Town takeaway and Anwar went to the chippy. I ordered salt & pepper beef and chips which was £6.50. The chips part was superb though the batter on the beef took away the flavour of the meat. Still great value though and cheaper than the tenner Anwar paid for his fish and chips. It was only a few minutes to the ground where there was plenty of parking.

Alcester Town were 5th whilst AFC Coventry Rangers were 4th.The hosts were unbeaten in ten games, on Saturday they had won 3-2 at Fairfield Villa.The visitors had played a game less and had an outside chance of the title. They were unbeaten in eight league games and had won 2-0 at Earlswood Town on Saturday. The game started with AFC Coventry Rangers on top and they took the lead on four minutes through a deflected shot after a defender sliced the ball to him. Alcester got better but despite a lung-busting run down the right by #2, no one helped him out by making themselves available. Shortly after, a home player went in the book for a wild challenge. The injured player required a fair few minutes of treatment. Both sides had chances before halftime and Alcester really should have been level. After a ten-minute half-time break, play resumed but both teams were quite wasteful with the ball. Both sides were putting in some strong tackles too. In the end, Coventry's physical superiority saw them see the game out, despite Alcester coming close a couple of times. The visitors even hit the post with a free kick, the chance of the game.

THE GROUND 

STRATFORD ROAD is a great setup for the level. Situated around a mile from the pleasant market town, parking is plentiful. The pitch is fully railed and has some hard standing. There is a big area of cover behind one goal. This has food and drink facilities with the bar having an interesting choice of drinks. Food is burgers, bacon rolls and snacks.