Non-League, Guts and Glory

I'd forgotten about HVNP. Since the heady days of Summer 2016, I've  moved twice (now living somewhat away from the Central Line, in Hornchurch), put on a lot of weight and found myself in a relationship. I still eat burgers and drink craft beer, so not everything has changed beyond all recognition!

But the last few weeks has seen another former passion of mine return - football. The last time I went to a match was back in May 2015, to see my beloved Southend break Wycombe's hearts in the last minute of added time at the end of extra time, then twist the knife in a nerve-shredding 7-6 penalty shootout victory. Just the thought of that game makes me grin... but it was the last sputter of my live football attending flame; I didn't work away from home any more and spent most of my time at the weekends drinking instead of wandering all the way across England to see another Southend capitulation. I had falled out of the football habit

But there I was, standing outside Fetcham Grove in Leatherhead, delving in my pockets to find some change for entry. Watching the world cup in the summer had formed a spark, but it was a set of photos from my old non-league watching partner Scott that made my heart yearn for football again. He'd been to Brightlingsea Regent, a club I'd never visited, and I was jealous.
So I decided to give it a try in the next midweek fixture that I could get to without much effort or expenditure. And that fixture was Leatherhead v Kingstonian, on the 14th November 2018.

01: Leatherhead 2-1 Kingstonian, Fetcham Grove, Isthmian League Premier Division 14/11/18
I'd been here before, but I didn't really care. I just needed to see if the tug I felt after seeing those pictures was real, or whether it was just an echo of the past. The ground was unchanged from seven years ago when I was last here, and it was a similar sort of day: cold, grey and a bit rainy. Foolishly I had no coat so huddled in the main stand while I watched Leatherhead labour to a 2-1 victory. It was slightly harsh on Kingstonian, who scored first and had the better chances but that's football, I've lost count of how many times I've seen Southend snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. My defining memory of this game will be the depressing exchange of chants about the K's ground situation, with AFC Wimbledon selling their shared ground to Chelsea, making Kingstonian homeless. It's sad to see a grand old club like Kingstonian cast adrift with no hope for the future.

My first thoughts as I boarded the train back to London was  that I enjoyed the game, and wondered what game I could head to next. Looks like football is back on the weekly menu.


02: Slough Town* 1-1 (8-7) Sutton United, Arbor Park FA Cup 1st Round 20/11/18
When I was a big non-league follower before, Slough were one of the more famous wandering teams, having been made homeless back in 2003 when they left Wexham Park. I'd come across them as the away team a few times here and there, but now they were settled back in Slough, and in a decent location too, not half a mile from the station. As I was perusing possible fixtures after the Leatherhead game, I noticed this replay. I love the FA cup, it usually creates a good game at this level, and I was intrigued to see their new ground so along I went. Handily, I was working in Reading the day before so travel was hardly an issue.
It rained and rained all day. If this were a few years back I'd be frantically checking the schedules to see if the game was still on, but Slough's new ground had a 3G pitch so the weather wasn't stopping anyone. Arbor Park was smart and compact, with a neat stand on one side, covered terraces behind each goal and a hard standing along the far touchlilne. Everything was painted in navy and amber. I was impressed, but couldn't spend too long looking around as the rain was threatening to soak me so I nipped to the (well stocked) club shop, bought a scarf, grabbed a sausage roll from the tea stand and took my place behind the goal.
The game was exciting, Slough were lively and had most of the possession but Sutton's quality showed and looked the greater threat in front of goal. They opened the scoring early on the counter and should really have gone in at half time 2-0 up as they spurned several choices while Slough were restricted to half chances and efforts from range. The second half, however, saw Slough come back into it and they well deserved their equaliser with ten to go, as they slapped in an excellent free kick from just outside the box. Both teams had chances to win it in a frantic last ten but the game ended 1-1, as did a pretty uneventful period of extra time.
Penalties were fun, and after a couple of misses each even the keepers got in on the act, It's so much nicer watching penalty shoot-outs when you don't have a real stake in the winner! Slough won and their fans went crazy, but it was almost eleven so high time for me to head off past their celebrations to the station and back home.

03: Maidstone United 1 Eastleigh 3, Gallagher Stadium, National League 27/11/2018
I hate the term 'national league'. What do they think the football league / premier league are? Local leagues? It's the bloody Conference, or even Conference National if you must. The current name does it no favours. Nevertheless, here I was to see my first Conference game in over five years, at another new-build ground: Maidstone United.
If I'd seen Slough a few times as the away side, I've seen Maidstone many more. That's because they used to play in the Isthmian and this was the league I saw most games in, being local to my area. They'd always had good away support despite being exiled so I was looking forward to seeing their new-ish ground - they built the Gallagher Stadium in 2014. It was a bit of a trek from Romford and the trains were buggered up because of "Slippery Rails" but eventually I arrived, hopefully to witness another cracking game.
The Gallagher reminded me of Slough's ground, all metal stands and shiny surfaces. Maidstone, however, had a very impressive terrace behind one of the goals so I made a beeline for that once the obligatory club shop visit was done. Despite being covered, the rain swirled around the ground and blew into the occupants of the stand and over the course of the game I got soaked. Has it been even one dry game since I started watching football again?  Another 3G pitch meant that the game was largely unaffected by the weather although I did see a few puddles forming on the surface by the middle of the game. Maidstone were bottom and it showed, although the first half was fairly even, the Stones conceded a soft opener to Eastleigh with the last kick of the half. Agony, and the pain got worse in the second half as Eastleigh deservedly extended their lead to three goals. The crowds were already pouring out by the time Maidstone poked home a consolation. The Stones need more firepower if they are to survive in the Conference national, but at least they have a nice new home.