Non League Day - Sept 4th 2010

I know this is an Arsenal blog but anyone who has read it or follows me on Twitter will know that from time to time I mention another. I once described The Arsenal as the wife and Cambridge City as the mistress but that suggests cheating and secrecy. The Arsenal won't mind I sneak off to see someone else when they are away from home. The two can exist together as the chances of them ever meeting is slim.

Saturday 4th September has been declared 'Non League Day' as there is no club or international football that day. It's the brainchild of James Doe, a lifelong football fan and supporter of Harrow Borough FC. Its aim is to promote the semi professional game in this country by virtue of a fortuitous break in the football calendar.

My dad travelled to London in the 60s and 70s on the train to watch football. It was not a place for a child. He saw too much fighting for him to take me. The crush on the platform was the final straw. Cambridge City, the local non-league club, were the safer option. He'd watched them with his dad and now he was taking me. They had a wonderful wooden stadium which I remember feeling as big as Wembley. I even saw them play The Arsenal once in a friendly. Pat Rice led the team out. Money worries led them to sell their 'Wembley' to developers and build a small ground around the training pitch next door. They lose that ground at the end of the season and with it go many of my memories of my dad.

He always stood in the same place with the same people. John, always pessimistic, Jed, who made me laugh with every comment, Whizz, with his headphone for latest scores. Dad knew Whizz for 30 years but didn't know his real name! When my dad died in 1999 I didn't go for 4 years. It was our place and I couldn't go without him.

But I returned with my son and he loves it too. The old faces have gone. They're not standing where we always stood. I don't stand there either. That was our spot.

I urge you, this weekend to support non league day. These clubs need your support. You can get into the game, buy a programme, raffle tickets, a tea and a burger and still have change from £20. Many clubs are offering special deals on Saturday. City are letting anyone showing a season ticket to a Premiership or Championship team in free!

So on Saturday my son and I will drive from (near) The Arsenal up the M11 to see City vs Stourbridge in the Zamaretto Premier League.

If you fancy it go to http://www.nonleagueday.co.uk/ where there is a map of games so you can find your nearest. Go on, you won't regret it.


Video from http://www.youtube.com/user/citymatchdayvideo. This is such a valuable service for us fans who've moved away & I hope the club don't mind me borrowing it for my blog! (Right click & select show all if you can't see the goals!)

"I'm Theo"

This evening my son fired a shot past me in the back garden. As I dived haplessly to my left the ball broke the net. It wasn't the velocity of the shot as much as the age of the net that broke it but my son exclaimed, "I'm Theo" as the ball didn't nestle but hit the shed. Theo Walcott - 4 goals in two games, a recall to the England squad and my son wants to be you. Quite a week. I was always Frank Stapleton as I broke my homemade goal. Then I was Charlie Nicholas when I was old enough to know better. Now my goalscoring is done in my head I can be Bergkamp, Henry or Wright and nobody can stop me.

I watched the whole game yesterday on an iPhone so all the players were 3mm tall or smaller. Eyes hurt at the end but it was worth it. That was a fantastic away win at a horrible place. Their antifootball manager tried to stop us playing but failed. That's a victory in itself. We could've won by more but let's not complain. We dealt with their long balls and we didn't let them scare our keeper at corners. That was a massive step up from last year's horror show up there. It's very satisfying to beat teams managed by that chewing boring man. Imagine having a season ticket to watch that every week. Not many do and that's not just due to the economy. Boring, defensive, long ball antifootball and the boys dealt with it. Proud of them.

OK, there was that horrible bit of defending that led to their goal. Awful but we got away with it. Last season that would've cost us points. One man who hasn't cost us points so far this season is Almunia. He's done OK especially with all the stuff about replacing him flying around. However, he needs replacing. He's a good keeper as is Flappyhandski. You can't get to their level without being good but we need better. We need great not good. Greats I remember - Jennings, Seaman, Lukic, Lehmann. Good - Just about everyone else. Good keepers are back up. Greats are first choice. We have good, we need a great.

A new keeper would give the whole team a new confidence. Every time the ball goes near Almunia I hold my breath. He feels like a mistake waiting to happen. For the sake of my health I hope we get a new man by Tuesday.

So a splendid away win to take us into the interlull. No Arsenal next weekend which has led some fans to set up Non-League day. They are urging fans of league clubs to go and see their local non-league team on Saturday. I'll be taking my son to see Cambridge City and hope they can repeat their 5-0 thrashing of Tiverton. A fantastic idea and I'll try to do a short post about it later in the week.

Right, I'm off to bed to dream of being Jack Wilshire breaking up a fight between bigger boys.