football rambles

January - a bumper month with failing floodlights The year got off to a fine start with plenty of games coming in thick and fast after a November and December that had seen a number of cancellations due to snow and rain. Ely got off to a good start with a win over Newmarket. I went to Fulham v Peterborough in the cup which saw Fulham win 6-2, we were sat near Barry Fry and George Boyd in the stand and just behind Posh manager Gary Johnson in the dug out. At the time we didn't know it but a few days later Johnson was on his way out and Darren Ferguson was on his way back to London Road. In January I also made my first trip to Thetford Town where they drew 2-2 with Ipswich Wanderers in a game that went on for ages thanks to the floodlights packing in. February - Wind and rain The bad weather was back in February with yet more cancellations happening. The highlight of the month was a fine win for Ely City over CRC, where the wind assisted the team more than a little bit. March - FA V...

Here is a record of the top ten teams on results of games I was at in 2011. 1 Ely City P 23 W 12 D 8 L 3 F 48 A 30 Pts 44 2 Thetford Town P 4 W 3 D 1 L 0 F 10 A 2 Pts 10 3 Peterborough United P 5 W 3 D 1 L 1 F 8 A 9 Pts 10 4 King's Lynn Town P 3 W 2 D 1 L 0 F 7 A 2 Pts 7 5 Needham Market P 2 W 1 D 1 L 0 F 5 A 4 Pts 4 6 Mildenhall Town P 2 W 1 D 1 L 0 F 5 A 4 Pts 4 7 Fulham P 1 W 1 D 0 L 0 F 6 A 2 Pts 3 8 Paris Saint-Germain P 1 W 1 D 0 L 0 F 3 A 0 Pts 3 9 Rocester P 1 W 1 D 0 L 0 F 3 A 0 Pts 3 10 Biggleswade Town P 1 W 1 D 0 L 0 F 2 A 0 Pts 3 Most goals in a match = 8 on 8 January Fulham 6 Peterborough United 2 (FA Cup Round 3) Biggest home win = Thetford Town 5 Halstead Town 0 on 29 October (Eastern Counties League Division 1) Biggest away win = March Town United 2 Ely City 4 on 27 September (Eastern Counties League Cup Preliminary Round)

Well after a couple of quiet months, I still managed to get to 43 games and see 133 goals in 2011. The most notable thing about the year is perhaps that it is the first year since 1994 that I haven't visited a foreign stadium. I'll get on with a full review of the year after looking at the stadiums and the teams performances of the year. 1 The Unwin Ground, Ely (Ely City) 21 games 2 Mundford Road, Thetford (Thetford Town) 4 games 3 London Road, Peterborough (Peterborough United) 4 games 4 The Walks, Kings Lynn (Kings Lynn Town) 2 games 5 Villa Park, Birmingham (Aston Villa) 2 games 6 The Emirates Stadium, London (Arsenal) 2 games 7 The Abbey Stadium, Cambridge (Cambridge United and CRC) 2 games 8 Craven Cottage, London (Fulham) 1 game 9 Recreation Way, Mildenhall (Mildenhall Town) 1 game 10 Hillsfield, Rocester (Rocester) 1 game 11 Stonebridge Road, Northfleet (Ebbsfleet United) 1 game 12 Bloomfields, Needham Market (Needham Market) 1 game 13 GER Ground, March (March Town Unite...