football rambles

On Saturday I had been looking forward to what was going to be the highlight of the season so far with Ely travelling to Bethnal Green in the FA Vase. After a midweek snow alert when South Cambridgeshire and Essex was hit by a flurry of the white stuff I gave Dean a call to see what the situation was. I felt a bit happier to hear that in London it was cold but sunny and as the tube ran under the pitch at Mile End Stadium the chance of the game being off was slim. The weather was pretty stable until Friday evening when there was a bit of a downpour, typically when I was standing outside at Crusaders' training session, but nothing to worry about. Therefore I was a bit shocked when an hour later Mick called me to tell me the game was off. The next day was cold but sunny in both Ely and London. The Crusaders' game was on and I thought about going to either King's Lynn or Thetford in the afternoon. However, after the Crusaders' game I was suffering with flu and then spen...

Next weekend Vase fever returns when Ely visit Bethnal Green of the Essex League in the 3rd Round. Bethnal Green play at the Mile End Stadium in Tower Hamlets. Like Hatfield's ground in the last round it's a multi-sports complex, which includes facilities for most sports you could think of. Bethnal Green are fittingly a community club and share the ground with Sporting Bengal of the Kent League. As a club that were founded for that very purpose they are a modern club. The club started out in 2000 and only became a senior club in 2009 when they won the Middlesex League and joined the competitive Essex League. In 2009 -2010 they finished fifth and won both the cups on offer, which is indeed commendable when you look at some of the quality on offer in the league. At the time of writing they lie 4th in the Essex Senior League after finishing 9th last season.