agamemnon3

Agamemnon3, (whoever he is), was at Silver Jubilee Park yesterday watching Edgware Town huff and puff their way to a 3-1 win over a game, but limited, Irchester United before a pitiful 'crowd' of 48.

Of possibly more interest than the football on offer were the grumblings in the newly-refurbished clubhouse from the ET regulars.  It would appear, much to the disgust of those present, that draught beers are only to be available at Hendon FC home games, while the undoubtedly second-class ET faithful must learn to survive on over-priced bottles.  Indeed, standing quietly, and listening to the talk around me, it was apparent that there are a number of issues on which the two clubs do not agree, certainly enough to suggest that off-field relations between the co-tenants are somewhat strained.

This, of course, can often happen when one is unlucky enough to have a cuckoo in one's nest.     

No, sorry R, I couldn't do Thursday.

Good to see that Harefield have some points on the board anyway.  They are a good club, doing the right things.

No longer SSML Clubs perhaps, but still old friends and interested parties:

St Albans City v Hadley  (Wednesday 9 September 7.00pm)

Cockfosters v Tilbury  (Thursday 10 September 7.45pm)

Harefield completely outplayed yesterday, and lucky to get away with only a 4-1 defeat.

What makes it even worse is that although officially 'Cockfosters Reserves', back at Chalk lane they are referred to as 'the U23s', and even include a handful of last season's U18s.

I don't know what the general standard is in the Suburban League, but on yesterday's showing the step-up to the Herts Prem for Harefield was ill advised.  Referring to my earlier post, why are new sides in the Prem anyway ?  Surely they should be required to start in the Senior Division ?  That would be fairer, and better, for everyone.

Anyway, Harefield are a decent bunch and a good club, so let us hope yesterday was just first-day nerves.  No doubt Chipperfield will have something to say about that on Thursday.    

Thanks for that R.  Yes, as you say, the Herts Prem looks like a seriously competitive division.

Although, quite honestly, I'm not sure what I think about this.  Are the 'genuine' Herts clubs, (Belstone, Cuffley, Ware Sports etc), being asked for too much in taking on Step 4 and 5 reserve sides week after week, or do they actually gain from the experience ?  And similarly, in the Senior Div, what's in it for the 'genuine' Herts clubs , (Evergreen, Hinton, Knebworth etc) ?  Wouldn't they be in the Prem if it weren't for other clubs' reserve/development sides ?  It's a difficult one, and, as I say, I'm not entirely sure what to think.

But yes, you're right again, the Suburban League is certainly in trouble.  But then parts of their website haven't been updated since 2015, which speaks volumes.     

Turned up at the Medburn Ground this afternoon to watch Belstone v London Lions, but all I could find was a friendly groundsman pottering about.

Evidently both sides have some injuries, and so with the season's start almost upon us, decided to cancel the game.

On Thursday.

One might have thought that such a snippet of information was worth mentioning on a club website, or a club twitter feed, but clearly neither club could be bothered.

Ho hum...  Welcome back to grassroots football...

Cockfosters Reserves, of the Herts Senior, seem to think that their first league game, (September 5th), is away at Harefield United.

Which would suggest that Harefield Res have joined the Herts.  I can't find a Herts constitution anywhere.  Does anyone have anything more on this ?

'Attendance only 47.'

Well if you choose to schedule a game against a 'B' side at the same time as their first team are playing, then what can you expect ?

There was no need whatsoever for this game to have been played this evening.  The general lack of initiative and imagination among non-league Club Secretaries in and around London continues to be nothing short of staggering.

(As an aside, an attendance that is equally shocking this evening must surely be the 223 who turned up to watch the cup-tie between Barnet and Farsley Celtic.  This, you will recall, was called off a couple of weeks ago only seconds before the kick-off time, after both sets of players had been warming up on the pitch for about an hour).  

In passing, you may also have noted an impressive win by St Panteleimon over a hastily-cobbled-together Cockfosters Reserves side.  A thoroughly unnecessary game and a complete waste of an evening for all concerned.  If, however, it has brought some small measure of comfort to some of the people at St Panteleimon, then so be it.

Anyway, the good news is that the lazy and ignorant blazers of the Middlesex FA can now all sleep soundly knowing that their rules have been adhered to.

Because that's all that really matters, isn't it ?    

Interesting to note that Leighton Town had their highest attendance of the season yesterday --- an impressive 260 for a run-of-the-mill game v Wembley FC.

So what's happening here ?  Are the good people of Leighton Buzzard turning out in their droves to show their support for their club's brave stand against unacceptable behaviour ?

Or are the obnoxious ones actually turning up as usual but this time dragging along an aged person with them in order to facilitate entry ?

Fascinating times at Bell Close...

Just a brief update.

The Middlesex FA, as boneheadedly out of touch as ever, have decided that the St Panteleimon v Cockfosters tie must be replayed, as per their rules, within seven days of the initial abandonment.

Cockfosters have done the honourable thing and offered to forfeit the game and allow St Panteleimon to progress unhindered to the next round.  Surprisingly perhaps, St Panteleimon have turned down this offer, and want to go ahead with the game, leaving Cockfosters with no real choice but to agree.

This completely unnecessary game will therefore take place at 7.45pm on Tuesday at Rayners Lane FC. 

KB --- fair enough, I accept what you say.  But there is nothing on FullTime, which I tend to regard as 'authoritative'.  Incidentally KB, my digs are not aimed at you.  I love the SSML, and want everyone connected with it to thrive and do well, but over the last few years the League's attitude to second-team football has been nothing short of a disgrace.

Jonno --- Absolutely.  In some ways the Herts Div One is going to be a tougher and more interesting competition than the Herts Prem this season, and all credit to the Herts County League for letting it happen and running with it. 

Fixtures for the first few weeks of the Herts County League have been released.

In Division One, we now have reserve teams from Baldock, Bovingdon, Cockfosters, Hadley, Hoddesdon, Oxhey Jets, Rayners Lane, St Margaretsbury and Wodson Park in an 18-team strong division.  With regular Saturday and Tuesday/Wednesday evening games scheduled, this could well be a fiercely-fought contest, and is exactly what the SSML Reserve Division ought to have been.

Meanwhile, back in the sleepy world of the SSML, for the teams remaining in the U25/Reserve set-up, (all eleven of them), there are still no fixtures scheduled at all.   

Following yesterday's AGM, the Development League is now down to just eleven teams, from last season's sixteen --- and this includes two new teams in Stotfold and Kempston Rovers.

Gone from last season are Colney Heath, Welwyn Garden City, Risborough Rangers, St Margaretsbury, Hoddesdon Town, Hertford Town and Cockfosters.

Is anyone, (other than the blazers at the SSML), really surprised ?  

Watching Sun Sports win 3-0 at Hadley Reserves in the Herts County Div One last night, I was told that Sun are expecting to be promoted to the Herts Prem and are moving back into their home ground at Bellmountwood Avenue, and hope to be back in the SSML 'the season after next'.  Good to see them full of confidence and enjoying life again. 

Cockfosters manager Leigh Wooldridge has resigned this evening --- six months too late, in my view, but one can't have everything.

'Any news on applicants for division two next season ?'

Last night at Cheshunt I was told that, along with league champions Bovingdon, Herts County league side Sarratt have applied to join the SSML.

It would appear that Sarratt are still incensed at the league's decision to relegate them last season in favour of new boys AFC Oaklands, who subsequently folded after playing only seven games.

Incidentally, Dean Barker followers will probably be aware that he was today appointed manager at Northwood FC, the position he was widely rumoured to be taking up almost exactly a year ago.

Having enjoyed relative success in his three years of management so far, this will be a testing proposition for him --- personally I don't have much time for Northwood, but I wish him well.  

'Cockfosters are a div 1 club, awful ground with a car park that fits about 5 cars....deservedly back where they belong.'

Do you know, it had never occurred to me that a football club's position in the overall scheme of things should be dependent upon the size of its car park.

This is indeed a novel approach, and you are indeed well-named.

Incidentally, the projection that has Holmer Green and Tring moving westward also supposes that the Essex Senior League is currently five teams short.  Moving St Margaretsbury and Hoddeson across would then leave Cockfosters as the easternmost club in the SSML --- and the ESL still three clubs short.

So who knows --- perhaps all you hardline car park fetishists will get your way after all...  

What on earth has happened at Cockfosters ?  Nothing --- and that's the problem...

Over the summer Fosters lost the whole of last season's first and second team squads, starting the season with only four players with any first-team experience, and with no more than a dozen first-team appearances between them.  This, together with a new manager, meant that a repeat of last season's heroics under Dean Barker was unlikely.

I know Dean quite well, and despite his subsequent success with Wingate & Finchley U23s, I am still not entirely convinced that he has what it takes to be a good manager.  What he undoubtedly does have however, is superb organisational and networking skills, and one of the best contact books in the business.  Whereas the new manager at Cockfosters has none of these things. 

The new manager at Cockfosters knows nothing about step 5 football, or the teams his side is playing against, does no preparation or research, takes no interest in the club's reserve or U18 sides, and seems to think that endless training ground routines will be enough to win the day.

Fosters' two best players by far this season both joined the club from sides in the Amateur Football Alliance, which is basically step 9 and below, and they have a player who left SSML Div Two side AFC Southgate because he couldn't get a game, yet walked straight into the Fosters first-team, where he stayed for most of the season.  This tells you all you need to know about both the club's recruitment policy, and its ambition --- and, of course, what the outcome of this is likely to be.

I could go on and on, but it's getting late --- perhaps I could finish by referring you to back to post 16 of this very thread, where on July 20th 2017, someone calling himself 'agamemnon3' wrote that 'if Cockfosters finish anywhere outside of the bottom three I will be truly amazed'. 

In the Herts County League Div One, there are still quite a few games to play.

Bovingdon Reserves are currently leading, but still have to play the sides in 2nd, (Sun Sports), 3rd, (Weston), and 4th, (Hadley Reserves).

Hadley Reserves are nine points behind Bovingdon Reserves, but have two games in hand, and are at home to them tonight, (ko 7.30, if anyone fancies it), and it could well be quite a game.

It's good that the Herts County League recognise that, for the players and coaches involved, second-team football can mean just as much as first-team football does.

Now compare that to the lazy, half-baked, couldn't-care-less attitude of the SSML, and it's clear why clubs are moving on.     

Sorry to be so late, it's been a busy couple of days.

AFC Southgate will be leaving the Spartan Division Two and folding at the end of the season.  I am told that the reasons are 'simply financial'.

As I posted earlier, I learned about this three weeks ago but was asked not to say anything as the players hadn't been told.  I was at both the away game v Park View last Wednesday and the home game v Tring Town this evening, and it is clear to me that the players still haven't been told.  I think this is pretty shabby.

Even shabbier is the fact that AFCS didn't inform Hadley FC that they were calling it a day until after the March 31st deadline for groundsharing agreements, thus leaving Hadley without tenants, and with a significant hole in their budget.  Not life-threatening, but a headache that Hadley didn't need.

As a season-ticket holder at AFC Southgate, (possibly their only season-ticket holder), I have enjoyed watching them on and off this season, and I am desperately disappointed at the way things have turned out.  But hey, that's football...

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to start a guessing game.

I learned three weeks ago, almost by accident, that a Div 2 club was folding. but was asked not to say anything as 'the players don't know yet and we still have games to play'.

I'll see what I can find out this evening, and will be back on here tomorrow.

Incidentally, I agree with almost all of Dailydose's post above.

I haven't heard that Berkhamsted Raiders are disappearing, although if that is the case, then they will be no loss.

Despite their fine track record in youth football, they were a largely a vehicle for a bunch of chancers to take control of the Broadwater ground, and gain access to huge chunks of public funding.

Fortunately, their complete lack of support, their dismal on-field performances, and the relative success of Berkhamsted FC, have all combined to consign their nasty little plan to the bin.     

Sorry, that should say 'one Div Two club' leaving the league, and folding, so one in, one out so far.

At games this week I was told that Bovingdon, the current Herts County League leaders, have applied to join the Spartan Div Two, which is good news, but as I also know that one Div One club is leaving the league, and is in fact folding, we don't really gain anything.  

An email from the SSML Fixture Secretary has been circulated today suggesting that because of 'difficulties' in re-arranging games, eight games which have no bearing on the top of the table should be called 0-0 draws, or declared void.  Only those games which can affect the league title should be re-arranged.

Cockfosters are the club most affected, with three of the eight games concerning them.  As last night's Cockfosters v Berkhamsted game was postponed because no referee was available, this can presumably also be added to the list.

 And they wonder why clubs are leaving...