WIMBORNE TOWN (The New Cuthbury)

SOUTHERN LEAGUE DIVISION ONE SOUTH, WIMBORNE TOWN 1-0 YATE TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 450

The best laid plans and all that.

This Saturday was supposed to be a treble header of matches in West Sussex but the heavy rain that had battered the south coast overnight lead to a plethora of postponements. 

Unfortunately, for me, two were the first two games of my planned treble, which were called off due to waterlogged pitches. The third game of my intended treble did go ahead but by then I had already decided I would rather go and watch something a little higher up the football food chain, and take another step closer to completing another league.

After perusing the app formerly known as Twitter, Wimborne Town tweeted around 10.30am that, after a pitch inspection, their game with Yate Town was definitely going ahead so, from my overnight base just off the A34, I now headed in the direction of Dorset.

 Wimborne Minster takes its name from the town's parish church, which is the burial place of King Æthelred, who reigned from 865–871.

Wimborne Town were founded in 1878 (a great year for new football clubs) and were founder members of the Dorset Football Association. After spending their entire history in county leagues, the club joined the Western League in 1981, after floodlights were installed at their ground. The club entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1982 and went all the way to the first round proper, losing to Aldershot, which still remains their best ever FA Cup run.

The Magpies won a national trophy in 1992 when the won the FA Vase, defeating Garforth Town 5-3 in the final at Wembley. At this point Wimborne were members of the Wessex League where they remained until promotion to the Southern League in 2010.

Wimborne Town played at The Cuthbury, which was a hefty stones throw away from Wimborne Minster, until 2020 before moving a couple of miles away across town to the "New" Cuthbury. The club took possession of the stadium just before Christmas 2020 but, because of the global covid pandemic, they never played their first competitive game at the new ground until August 2021, a 4-1 loss to Taunton Town.

This afternoon Yate Town were the visitors on this wet and windy afternoon and on a heavy, saturated pitch it was The Magpies who won the game with a solitary goal just before half-time.

On 41 minutes, after an initial headed effort crashed against the crossbar, Harry Baker was on hand to head the ball into an unguarded net. It was no more than the homesters deserved, despite some late pressure from Yate as they searched for an equaliser. The victory was enough to put Wimborne top of league this evening.

On a day like today I was incredibly thankful to watch any game and thanks to all for ensuring the match went ahead.

FC BARCELONA (Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys)

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP STAGE, FC BARCELONA 2-1 SHAKHTAR DONETSK, ATTENDANCE: 41,409

Tonight I took the opportunity to head to Catalonia to pay a visit to a ground that, until this season, has been very rarely used for football since 2009.

Camp Nou, the iconic home of FC Barcelona, is being renovated so, for season 2023/24, Barca are playing their home games at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. From 1997 to 2009 the stadium was home to city rivals Espanyol, before they moved to a purpose built stadium of their own. 

Ironically it was because of the previous tennants of this ground that tickets were easy to come by as many Barcelona supporters are supposedly boycotting games because they refuse to set foot in a ground that was once home to their bitter rivals. Indeed tonight was not a sell out and tickets were readily available to purchase at the ticket offices.

The stadium, originally known as Estadi de Montjuic, was built in 1929 for the World Exhibition and was also to be used as the main stadium for Spain's (unsuccessful) bid for the 1936 Olympic games. The stadium fell into a state of disrepair however when, in 1987, Barcelona were finally awarded the summer games for 1992, it was completely gutted, renovated and expanded, with just the original facade remaining.

The centrepiece of the 1992 Olympic games it was where Linford Christie (100 metres) and Sally Gunnell (400 metres) triumphed to win gold for Great Britain and also, famously, where Derek Redmond was helped around the track by his father after pulling up with a torn hamstring in the 400 metres semi-final.

Post Olympic games the stadium the stadium was used for both soccer and American football but has been has used sporadically since Espanyol left in 2009. In 2002 the stadium was renamed Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys after the president of the Catalan government during the Spanish Civil War, who was executed at the nearby Montjuïc Castle in 1940.

This evening Barcelona were hosting Shakhtar Donetsk in the group stages of the Champions League.

After finally finding my seat in the ground, as none of them appear to be numbered, I sat down to watch Barça consolidated their position at the top of Group H with a third win in three, almost ensuring qualification to the knockout stages, thanks to a 2-1 victory over their Ukrainian opponents.

Barca were in complete control of the game and had more than enough chances to win comfortably but almost threw it away towards the end, when the visitors nearly snatched an unlikely draw.

Barcelona's Goals came from Ferran Torres (28) and Fermin Lopez (36) with Georgly Sudakov (62) replying for Shakhtar.

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Prior to the big game in the evening, the equivalent youth game took place in the afternoon. The game was played at the Estadi Johan Cruyff, named in honour of the legendary player and coach, where around 600 spectators gathered to watch goals from Noah Darvich (15) and Juan Hernandez (85) ensure victory for the Barça youngsters.

ABERFAN FC (The Grove Field)

FAW WELSH CUP 2ND ROUND, ABERFAN 0-3 BRITON FERRY LLANSAWEL, ATTENDANCE: 106 (h/c)

It was another round of the Welsh Cup this weekend and the competition has now reached the stage where the 'big boys' enter. There were plenty of ties involving the Cymru Premier clubs but the tie that interested me the most was one that involved one of the lowest ranked teams left.

After seeing South Wales Alliance League Championship Division Aberfan knock out Merthyr Saints in the 1st qualifying round back in July, they have progressed to this stage thanks to further wins over Tonyrefail BGC and Pontyclun. When they pulled out Cymru South Briton Ferry Llansawel, then heading down the A470 to the outskirts of Merthyr Tydfil seemed a no brainer. A smattering of other groundhoppers obviously had the same idea!

The village of Aberfan is about four miles south of Merthyr Tydfil and is a former mining community in the Taff Valley. The village is synonymous with the worst coal mining related disaster in British history. At around 9.15am on October 21st 1966, a colliery spoil tip collapsed sending a 40ft tidal wave of coal waste down the mountain and onto the village. It was Pantglas Junior School that took the brunt of the avalanche and 116 school children died along with 5 of their teachers. Several houses and a farm were also destroyed and the final death toll was 144. A memorial garden now stands on the site of the school.

After a visit to the garden and cemetery to pay my respects ahead of the 57th anniversary next week, it was back to the trivial matter of a football match, where there was an impeccably observed minutes silence before kick off.

Founded in 1968, Aberfan Football Club play their home games at The Grove Field, on the banks of the River Taff. The main football pitch is railed off, but there is no furniture to protect you from the elements. In the 24 hours prior to the game the weather had been dreadful, with heavy rain, but the pitch held up well, even if it was very squelchy underfoot for us spectators.

After playing in the local district leagues the club joined the South Wales Amateur League in 2012 and then became founder members of the South Wales Alliance League in 2015, where they currently play in the Championship Division, which sits at level five in the Welsh pyramid.

Visitors Briton Ferry are currently top of the Cymru South (level two in Wales) and were overwhelming favourites to win the tie. In the end a 3-0 scoreline suggests The Ferry did with relative ease but Aberfan made them work hard for their victory and they can take a huge amount of pride in their performance.

Briton Ferry Llansawel dominated the possession from the off but it wasn't until the 20th minute that they made the breakthrough. Kris Evans broke into the Aberfan penalty area before exchanging passes with Jasper Payne before slotting home. Harry Jones in the Aberfan goal made some good saves to keep it at 1-0 at half-time.

The second half followed a similar pattern but as the half wore on Aberfan started to push forward a little more. In the 83rd minute they had their big chance and with just the 'keeper to beat the effort was saved.

Showing how football turns in the blink of an eye, Briton Ferry immediately went up the other end and scored their second goal, when Payne netted to effectively clinch the tie. In the 87th minute Briton Ferry had their third when an attempted clearance by the 'keeper was charged down by substitute Luke Bowen and the ball rolled into the unguarded goal.

Briton Ferry Llansawel march into the next round, the gulf in class was obvious, but Aberfan bowed out of the competition with their heads held high. 

Whilst I am here, may I thank Aberfan for going to the effort of producing a programme, in this day and age it is much appreciated.