No.49 - Weds 13th May 2015; Bedfordshire County Football League Division One;                  6.35pm at the Everton Playing Fields; Church Street; Everton; Gamlingay; Sandy; Beds; SG19 3LW 

 

Matchday images (30) https://picasaweb.google.com/footballgroundsinfocus/GreatBarfordFC

Great Barford (0) 1  Potton Town (2) 3

'Potton win at Everton!'

'With the end of the season almost upon us, there are only a very few ‘hoppertunities left to watch a game of football now. It takes an equal measure of dedication and detective work as we trawl through countless websites trying to find something of interest. I think most ground collectors would refer to this act as scraping the bottom of the proverbial football barrel. After doing a bit of research though, I am lucky and have managed to find a game not too far from Racing HQ.

 

Tonight the Wraymobile mark II is heading west for the early evening Bedfordshire County Football League match between Great Barford and Potton Town who face each other in a Division one encounter. At the last minute I notice that the venue for the game has been switched from the Great Barford village hall to the neighbouring Everton playing fields. When I tell my wife where I’m going she shakes her head in disbelief (not for the first time either)!

 

It’s a far cry from the home of its namesake up there on Merseyside. But the Everton playing field off the Potton Road is nevertheless, at this time of year, a pleasant enough setting to watch a game of football. I'm led to believe that it’s not uncommon for the club to switch home games between here and Barford at certain times of the season. Blossom filled trees line the neat leafy hedgerows to give the site a lovely enclosed feel. A small wooden panelled pavilion painted in green is set back at an angle in the far corner of the field – this incorporates both changing rooms and a kitchen area. At the opposite end is a children’s play area. As you would expect there are no dug outs or spectator cover at pitch side.

 

In the distance it is not hard to miss the large transmitter from the Sandy Heath station located just a couple of miles up the road as it dominates the skyline. Complete with its 250m tall mast it first began transmitting TV signals back in 1966 before switching (about four years ago) to purely digital transmissions. It now broadcasts to nearly two million people including those living in areas of North London plus Bedford, Peterborough, Milton Keynes, Cambridge and Stevenage as well as many other towns in the counties just north of the capital.

 

Back to the football. After a bruising season this is in fact the very last game in the Division One schedule. Phew! With all the promotion and relegation issues decided well over a week ago now both clubs will finish in mid table whatever the result tonight. There is nothing resting on the game apart from the small matter of pride as these sides are not only separated by a few miles, but are fierce rivals. The reverse match which should have been played at Potton in April didn’t go ahead when Barford cried off late on after been unable to fulfil the fixture.

 

Thankfully there are no such problems for this one and both sets of players were out early warming up ahead of the 6.30pm kick-off. For the record the visitors prove too strong and go on to win a scrappy and, at times, bad tempered game, by a 3-1 score line. The match played on a hard, undulating pitch in sunny conditions attracts just over forty spectators. It’s a bit of a hoppers convention too with a number of well known (in these parts) travellers in attendance including Brian B; Dave H and (his son) Tom; Terry B and Ted A as well as BCFL supremo Pete Francis. It was nice to meet up with you all once again fellas.

 

A trip to this tidy little venue comes highly recommended. To find out more about the club you can go to the terrific BCFL site (courtesy of hard working secretary Pete Francis) and the FA Full-Time page, the links for which are shown below. The joys of hopping at the end of the season continue...have fun wherever you go'.

 

FGIF Match Stats

Scorers: (H) R Hukin (74) and (A) J Pyeman (14) T Pyeman, (60), M Mijalski (20) 

Attendance: 42; Admission: None; Programme: No; Match rating: 3/5; Ground rating: 3/5.

Links

http://full-time.thefa.com/Index.do?league=7195521

http://www.bedfordshirefootballleague.co.uk/

 

edited on 14/05/15