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

Yesterday Peterborough took on bottom side Coventry City in the Championship and got their first clean sheet of the season, it wasn't all good news though, although after a run of bad results it was pretty critical that Posh got the three points. The first 20 minutes were not a typical performance by Posh with both sides looking reluctant to go forward and a Lee Tomlin shot that went wide being the only chance either side got in this period of play. For the rest of the first half the better chances went to Coventry, who despite having the chances never really looked like scoring. Lukas Jutkiewicz and Cyrus Christie both had good chances for the Sky Blues, but they definitely lacked a bit of bite at the end and the target man Clive Platt looked like a poor man's Emile Heskey, he really was that bad. Peterborough meanwhile lacked a creative spark and with the absence of Grant McCann, who is injured, Emile Sinclair failed to get much service and when he did he showed a poor first

Yesterday we went to Peterborough United V Coventry City. Here are some not very good pictures from the day, but it was that cold I have an excuse for freezing hands. Here are a couple of pictures of Posh warming up: The teams line up: Some blurred match action:

Next Saturday we are off to London Road again, this time Posh are taking on one of my least favourite teams of all time; Coventry City, who were strangely the first team I saw playing against Stoke at the old Victoria Ground in 1983. Anyway, it's not looking good for the Sky Blues this season, as they currently sit at the bottom of the Championship and all doesn't seem well at the club, it hasn't always been like this though. Coventry were formed as Singers after the factory that made bicycles in the City in 1883. Their original kit was thought to be pink like the colours of the factory, there is also evidence that the Sky Blues wore sky blue in this period too, but that may have been a change shirt. One of the earliest shirts on record was a number that mixed both blue and pink, which dates back to 1889. From 1890 to 1891 Singers adopted a black strip with a pink 'S' on the breast to represent the factory. During the next few years Singers donned a black and red nu

Well like the last couple of years November and December are proving to be a quiet period in the season. Unlike the last two years, it isn't because the weather is bad and that there are no matches on, but rather that after the last couple of years I decided to do some extra work on Saturdays in anticipation that most of the matches would be off.