A quick look back at last season
July 2008
The season for me started as early as July and got off to a somewhat predictable start with Dynamo beating Illychivets Mariupol in one of their customary 2-0 without breaking a sweat home victories. The following week saw Arsenal Kyiv draw 1-1 with Kryvbas Kriviy Rih in a rather lacklustre performance. The only highlights being the fact that all the lads, apart from Sid were present and that Arsenal actually scored against Kryvbas. I wasn't expecting entertainment in either of these games and I certainly didn't get it.
August 2008
August got off to a flyer with Dynamo slipping up against an inspired Metalist team in one of the best Ukrainian league games I have ever seen. The only pity was that Han wasn't there to see it. Dynamo then a few days later got a nasty fright from Drogheda in the Champions League qualifiers, but finally managed to scrape a draw and go onto win 3-2 on aggregate. What a difference a few months makes though as Drogheda are now fighting for survival, where as Dynamo stormed to the title and made it to the UEFA cup final. My final game in Ukraine came on 10th August when Arsenal drew with Zorya Luhansk at Obolon stadium. It was a bit of a depressing end to my year back in Ukraine to be honest with most Arsenal fans missing the game due to a boycott after the wrongful arrest of some ultras and those who were there didn't celebrate or make a noise. Not that there was much to make a noise about in the rather dull 1-1 draw. Trips to Obolon tend to be depressing anyway, but as I left the stadium leaving a forlorn looking Ewig behind I saw Yura Zuba fighting some small kids for posters. He obviously wanted the posters to sell on Nivkiy market. Needless to say at that point I couldn't wait to get home. Not that the football was of a great standard when I returned. The first 2 matches were Rocester games. However, the end of August saw Burton beat Lewes 5-2. Burton looked great, but it would have been difficult to predict that they would go on to win the Conference, as Lewes were already gaining a reputation for being out of their depth in this league.
September 2008
September started off with one of the biggest shocks: Rocester actually won a game in fact they easily beat Oldbury United 4-1. It would appear that Oldbury though could beat Rocester on 2 other levels by being the worst side in the Midlands Football Alliance and having even more overweight fans than the Rocester (quite literally) massive. The next game was a charity match between an All star team and a mixture of Rocester and Uttoxeter players. Needless to say that the Allstars that included several ex-pros and David Beattie ( I wonder if Sheffield United had known what he was up to) and Tony Mowbrary. Then it was another Rocester game where they were back to their old ways losing 4-1 to an impressive Coventry Sphinx side. In September I also moved down here so on 20th I ventured down for my first Ely City game, which ended in a 1-1 draw with Harwich and Parkeston. I also ventured to Cambridge City the week later but the less said about that the better.
October 2008
I started October off by subjecting Macca to a dreadful game where Ely lost to Histon Reserves and it was bloody freezing. October also saw the start of the Great Shelford saga with the electric in the town going with Ely 1-0 and only a couple of minutes remaining. The next game was a shock Ely victory over Needham Market. Ely won 3-1 and I seem to remember it was a beautiful sunny day. I thought that I had imagined that until I looked back on this site at the pictures from the time and saw that it actually was a very nice day. I also met Mick in October which changed my football experience in Ely for the better, although it was on a very cold a rain night as Ely went down 3-2 against Wisbech.
November 2008
November in general saw some unfavourable results for Ely including a 3-0 defeat to Whitton United, who eventually dropped out of the league, although I suspect they might pop up at a lower level this season. I also went to the Abbey AKA the Shabby for the first time when Phil and his glum mates came to see York lose 1-0 to a Cambridge side who were still trying to find their stride.
December 2008
December started with Ely again beating Shelford this time 5-1, again though the result didn't stand as Ely allegedly had players who should have been suspended, although it appears that this wasn't really the case. Anyway it gave us the chance to take the mickey out of their leprechaun like Physio. I just didn't realise at the time I would have another 2 chances to see him in action. Ely also lost to an impressive Lowestoft side, but I don't think one of their fans was too happy about Nadiya asking him if he was Father Chrsitmas. Highlight of the month was definitely when Cambridge played Histon on Boxing Day. It was a 2-2 draw, although Cambridge deserved to win after being 2-0 up. It was a great atmosphere though even though the public transport system did its best to prevent me from getting there.
January 2009
Again most of the results in this month were ones that weren't too favourable to Ely with the highlight coming on 27th with Ely finally ridding themselves of the Shelford demons. However, it was probably the coldest day of the year and it took extra time for them to defeat them 2-0 with Robbie Mason returning to spur the Robins on. Elsewhere I went to the Shabby twice, once Rod was there. It was good to see him after having subjected him to a poor Ely game earlier in the season. In this game Cambridge beat Woking 4-1. I also took my dad to that game and the game between Cambridge and Oxford that ended in a 1-1 draw. The tickets were cheap from work and it was slightly annoying to have to sit with part time footbal fans, who probably prefer rugger ( as they call it), but the standard was high and I expect Oxford to do better in the coming season.
February 2009
The weather in February was appaling and therefore I only made it to one game, a shock and impressive victory over Soham Town Rangers away in the 1/4 final of the Cambridge Senior Cup. The game being the prize for finally defeating Shelford. Ely won 3-2, with the large space around the ground helping Big Ben get the long throws in.
March 2009
March began with Ely going out in the semis of the Cambridge Invitation Cup against Cambridge City losing 3-2 under unfortunate circumstances. The German groundhoppers seemed friendly enough. The Cambridge City fans were their usual knobish selves. A few days later Cambridge United put a dent in Burton's promotion hopes with a 2-0 victory. Macca was up for that. Burton actually looked dreadful in that game, so hopefully they will perform better after nearly losing the automatic promotion place after a run of poor results at the end of the season. I also sort of broadend my horizons with a few trips to some other localish grounds. The first was a trip to Kings Lynn where Ely beat their reserves 2-1. Kings Lynn have a terrible reputation, but they seemed friendly enough to me without actually dispelling some Norflok stereotypes. I was impressed by the ground, so I'm a bit shocked they have been kicked out of the Blue Square North, due to the poor facilities at the Walks. The next trip was to the quaint village atmosphere of Outwell where Wisbech have been playing whilst their ground goes through redevelopment. The less said about the game the better though as Ely went down 6-1. I also visited Newmarket, who beat Fakenham 3-1. I really enjoyed this day out, although I think that the entrance and the programme reminded me of football in the ex-Soviet Union, which made me look on it favourably. That said the beer was good and the locals (apart from the fat manager, who lost it when some kids got on the pitch at half time) were friendly.
April 2009
April started with a win for Ely over Leiston. I was beginning to think that Trevor Munns was going to start working magic after taking over the manager's seat from Dennis Lightning. Leiston had had a great season in the league, FA Cup and FA vase. Some people say they had put a weak team out, maybe they had. The other 2 Ely games I went to saw them lose to Stanway and to Mildenhall (in an extremely bizzare game - check the site out for more on that one). The other game was a reserves game that Ely lost 4-2 against the old nemesis Great Shelford.
May 2009
I went to one game in May and finally it was a Villa game. It was a great day out with a great atmosphere. Unfortunately Villa lost 3-1 after an impressive season they were looking knackered.
Anyway pre-season 2009-2010 starts tomorrow. So now it's time to move on.
The season for me started as early as July and got off to a somewhat predictable start with Dynamo beating Illychivets Mariupol in one of their customary 2-0 without breaking a sweat home victories. The following week saw Arsenal Kyiv draw 1-1 with Kryvbas Kriviy Rih in a rather lacklustre performance. The only highlights being the fact that all the lads, apart from Sid were present and that Arsenal actually scored against Kryvbas. I wasn't expecting entertainment in either of these games and I certainly didn't get it.
August 2008
August got off to a flyer with Dynamo slipping up against an inspired Metalist team in one of the best Ukrainian league games I have ever seen. The only pity was that Han wasn't there to see it. Dynamo then a few days later got a nasty fright from Drogheda in the Champions League qualifiers, but finally managed to scrape a draw and go onto win 3-2 on aggregate. What a difference a few months makes though as Drogheda are now fighting for survival, where as Dynamo stormed to the title and made it to the UEFA cup final. My final game in Ukraine came on 10th August when Arsenal drew with Zorya Luhansk at Obolon stadium. It was a bit of a depressing end to my year back in Ukraine to be honest with most Arsenal fans missing the game due to a boycott after the wrongful arrest of some ultras and those who were there didn't celebrate or make a noise. Not that there was much to make a noise about in the rather dull 1-1 draw. Trips to Obolon tend to be depressing anyway, but as I left the stadium leaving a forlorn looking Ewig behind I saw Yura Zuba fighting some small kids for posters. He obviously wanted the posters to sell on Nivkiy market. Needless to say at that point I couldn't wait to get home. Not that the football was of a great standard when I returned. The first 2 matches were Rocester games. However, the end of August saw Burton beat Lewes 5-2. Burton looked great, but it would have been difficult to predict that they would go on to win the Conference, as Lewes were already gaining a reputation for being out of their depth in this league.
September 2008
September started off with one of the biggest shocks: Rocester actually won a game in fact they easily beat Oldbury United 4-1. It would appear that Oldbury though could beat Rocester on 2 other levels by being the worst side in the Midlands Football Alliance and having even more overweight fans than the Rocester (quite literally) massive. The next game was a charity match between an All star team and a mixture of Rocester and Uttoxeter players. Needless to say that the Allstars that included several ex-pros and David Beattie ( I wonder if Sheffield United had known what he was up to) and Tony Mowbrary. Then it was another Rocester game where they were back to their old ways losing 4-1 to an impressive Coventry Sphinx side. In September I also moved down here so on 20th I ventured down for my first Ely City game, which ended in a 1-1 draw with Harwich and Parkeston. I also ventured to Cambridge City the week later but the less said about that the better.
October 2008
I started October off by subjecting Macca to a dreadful game where Ely lost to Histon Reserves and it was bloody freezing. October also saw the start of the Great Shelford saga with the electric in the town going with Ely 1-0 and only a couple of minutes remaining. The next game was a shock Ely victory over Needham Market. Ely won 3-1 and I seem to remember it was a beautiful sunny day. I thought that I had imagined that until I looked back on this site at the pictures from the time and saw that it actually was a very nice day. I also met Mick in October which changed my football experience in Ely for the better, although it was on a very cold a rain night as Ely went down 3-2 against Wisbech.
November 2008
November in general saw some unfavourable results for Ely including a 3-0 defeat to Whitton United, who eventually dropped out of the league, although I suspect they might pop up at a lower level this season. I also went to the Abbey AKA the Shabby for the first time when Phil and his glum mates came to see York lose 1-0 to a Cambridge side who were still trying to find their stride.
December 2008
December started with Ely again beating Shelford this time 5-1, again though the result didn't stand as Ely allegedly had players who should have been suspended, although it appears that this wasn't really the case. Anyway it gave us the chance to take the mickey out of their leprechaun like Physio. I just didn't realise at the time I would have another 2 chances to see him in action. Ely also lost to an impressive Lowestoft side, but I don't think one of their fans was too happy about Nadiya asking him if he was Father Chrsitmas. Highlight of the month was definitely when Cambridge played Histon on Boxing Day. It was a 2-2 draw, although Cambridge deserved to win after being 2-0 up. It was a great atmosphere though even though the public transport system did its best to prevent me from getting there.
January 2009
Again most of the results in this month were ones that weren't too favourable to Ely with the highlight coming on 27th with Ely finally ridding themselves of the Shelford demons. However, it was probably the coldest day of the year and it took extra time for them to defeat them 2-0 with Robbie Mason returning to spur the Robins on. Elsewhere I went to the Shabby twice, once Rod was there. It was good to see him after having subjected him to a poor Ely game earlier in the season. In this game Cambridge beat Woking 4-1. I also took my dad to that game and the game between Cambridge and Oxford that ended in a 1-1 draw. The tickets were cheap from work and it was slightly annoying to have to sit with part time footbal fans, who probably prefer rugger ( as they call it), but the standard was high and I expect Oxford to do better in the coming season.
February 2009
The weather in February was appaling and therefore I only made it to one game, a shock and impressive victory over Soham Town Rangers away in the 1/4 final of the Cambridge Senior Cup. The game being the prize for finally defeating Shelford. Ely won 3-2, with the large space around the ground helping Big Ben get the long throws in.
March 2009
March began with Ely going out in the semis of the Cambridge Invitation Cup against Cambridge City losing 3-2 under unfortunate circumstances. The German groundhoppers seemed friendly enough. The Cambridge City fans were their usual knobish selves. A few days later Cambridge United put a dent in Burton's promotion hopes with a 2-0 victory. Macca was up for that. Burton actually looked dreadful in that game, so hopefully they will perform better after nearly losing the automatic promotion place after a run of poor results at the end of the season. I also sort of broadend my horizons with a few trips to some other localish grounds. The first was a trip to Kings Lynn where Ely beat their reserves 2-1. Kings Lynn have a terrible reputation, but they seemed friendly enough to me without actually dispelling some Norflok stereotypes. I was impressed by the ground, so I'm a bit shocked they have been kicked out of the Blue Square North, due to the poor facilities at the Walks. The next trip was to the quaint village atmosphere of Outwell where Wisbech have been playing whilst their ground goes through redevelopment. The less said about the game the better though as Ely went down 6-1. I also visited Newmarket, who beat Fakenham 3-1. I really enjoyed this day out, although I think that the entrance and the programme reminded me of football in the ex-Soviet Union, which made me look on it favourably. That said the beer was good and the locals (apart from the fat manager, who lost it when some kids got on the pitch at half time) were friendly.
April 2009
April started with a win for Ely over Leiston. I was beginning to think that Trevor Munns was going to start working magic after taking over the manager's seat from Dennis Lightning. Leiston had had a great season in the league, FA Cup and FA vase. Some people say they had put a weak team out, maybe they had. The other 2 Ely games I went to saw them lose to Stanway and to Mildenhall (in an extremely bizzare game - check the site out for more on that one). The other game was a reserves game that Ely lost 4-2 against the old nemesis Great Shelford.
May 2009
I went to one game in May and finally it was a Villa game. It was a great day out with a great atmosphere. Unfortunately Villa lost 3-1 after an impressive season they were looking knackered.
Anyway pre-season 2009-2010 starts tomorrow. So now it's time to move on.
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