football rambles

....... Or in the case of Swindon Town it should be the reappearing robins. Swindon Town have used at least 5 different badges during their history, and most have them have involved robins, from their nickname or trains, their other nickname being the railwaymen and the town is famous for its locomotive history. The diamond shaped crest with the 'S' on it was from 1991 and was supposed to signify a successful outlook for the future, which never really materialised. To me it looks more like the logo of a geeky IT company, something which Swindon is more famous for nowadays. In 2007 the fans voted for the badge with quaters and a train and a robin in it. The towns motto was also reinstated 'Sulubrius et industria', and a very fine badge it is indeed. Funnily enough for a team who have the nickname of the Robins they haven't always worn red and white. They started off in black and white and then changed to red and white quaters when they entered the Southern League in ...

When the boys from ITV talk about the magic of nonleague football in their annual trip to somewhere crap in the pouring rain and say 'this is what it's all about', don't listen to them. They might have been wetting themselves down the road, as Histon knocked out the 'mighty' (their words not mine) Leeds, but up the road in Ely on Saturday in the freezing fog, nobody was feeling special. A few years ago Histon and Ely were together in the Eastern Counties League, but nowadays the gap is wider than it ever has been. Histon look like they could get into the league, whereas Ely will probably end up in a dogfight for survival in the Premier Division. Yesterda, Rod was in town and Sean fancied a trip to the football, but it was not exactly and advertisement for football. The freezing fog and heavy pitch didn't help, and I can't see the Great Shelford game which has been yet again rescheduled for Tuesday going ahead after today's heavy rain. We had a laugh ...

The Ely City game against Great Shelford was again off last night. It doesn't look like they will ever get it played the way things are going, especially with Ely due to face Yaxley away in the Hunts Cup on Tuesday night.

I finally met Phil in a pub in Milton before the game and went about drinking at a rate that wasn't safe. I reckoned that I deserved it after being messed around by bus drivers on the way there. The game wasn't that great and I must admit to having some regrets, especially with the £3 programme and £15 entry fee, when Mick phoned me up to tell me that Ely scored in stoppage time to win 2-1. The Cambridge goal came from a Ben Purkiss own goal, which settled the match, although it could have been a lot worse for the Minstermen. No wonder the travelling faithful were shouting 'Walker Out'. They got their wishes a week later and now have Martin Foyle the ex-Port Vale manager in the hot seat. I got sent the wrong way into Cambridge by a copper and didn't find very many friendly locals. In fact it was a German who finally helped me, so I probably got home later than those travelling up to Yorkshire. I have to admit that meeting Billy Brewer's best mascot mate in Yorki...

Another break down with my computer has meant that I've been off line for a week, so I'll be catching up now. I only went to the Cambridge United v York match last Tuesday and since then a lot has happened. I was in Bonn at the weekend and had to settle for watching the Villa v United match in a bar and Dynamo get beat by a very desperate Arsenal in the Champions League last night. In my opinion the Arsenal goal was not against the rules of the game, but not very sporting. I mean it was a drop ball and Dynamo didn't even go for it, but that's the way it goes. It also got me thinking about the changing fortunes of Dynamo and Drogheda since that game in summer, but more of that later. Anyway, here comes a short, as it was a long time ago, photoless (I forgot the camera) report of that Cambridge v York game.

There has been a trend for a lot of clubs to upgrade their nicknames to sound harder. For example, the Biscuitmen of Reading are now the Royals and the Robins of Charlton are the valiants and the Glass boys of Crystal Palace are the Eagles. Unlike Eagles Robins are not hard, as although Ely still have a Robin on the badge, Swindon, Charlton, Cheltenham and Bristol City have all got rid of the Robins from their badges. Charlton Athletic have had the current badge with the hand holding the sword since 1968, although the original idea for the design was first announced in 1963 when it won a competition held by the club and they have had a similar design since this date. The original badge had the letters CAFC in the shape of the diamond, but after World War 2 chose a Robin design, which they wore in the 1946 defeat to Derby in the FA Cup Final. They have at other times also used the Greenwich Council symbol as their badge. When the current badge design was chosen the nickname 'The Rob...

Top - the shirt that fans chose in 2004 bottom - this season's kit