Arcticterntalk.org

The blog of a travelling psychiatrist and football lover. Who happens to be a halfway decent photographer. Takes a cynical view of the world

Archive for the tag “football”

13 Apr 2013
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Portsmouth Fans at Brentford v Portsmouth


The behaviour of the Portsmouth fans was not impressive today. They arrived at the game knowing that the Supporters trust would most likely be able to buy the club and essentially they could consider themselves as shareholders. They were in good voice but then their chanting became foul mouthed and abusive for no good reason. At the end of the game they invaded the pitch and some then went on to start fighting. Just to put this simply, they are the worst set of fans that I have personally seen in League 1 for many years and no doubt will continue to grace League 2 next season. The sympathies I held for them have vanished totally.

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07 Apr 2013

Ron Rawlings RIP


Ron Rawlings I never met but is an example of a character without which football would simply fail to exist. He was the long standing kitman at Woking FC. From the tributes that were written about him in the Woking V Wrexham programme it was clear that he both a friend and an important contributir to many players at Woking. Without these unsung heroes nonleague footbal would simply not exist. He died after a long illness on Easter Sunday 2013.

A few humble photos to pay a little tribute to someone admired.

Ron Rawlings Tribute

Ron Rawlings Tribute

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02 Apr 2013

Walton Casuals 2 Walton and Hersham 2. A Photo Fest


This game to almost both teams surprise was a relegation 6-pointer with the prize for the loser being an ever increasing chance of relegation to the Combined Counties League. The reality was the game was dire, without much atmosphere,passion and devoid of skill, and both teams frankly look awful enough to deserve relegation. A summary of the game would be two scrappy goals for Walton and Hersham in the first half and two equally scrappy goals ( if one can count a penalty that ought not to have been given, as almost the last kick of the game) for Walton Casuals in the second half. For mitigating factors one can count the wind which was brisk and arctic, but such a devoid absence of skill I have not seen at any level for some time now.  I will also confess to supporting both these teams, and in fact have been watching Walton and Hersham for almost 50 years. When one also looks at the crowd that this local derby generated, about 150, it is clear that a small town like Walton cannot host two teams at this level, and the return fixture a month ago drew only 115 souls.

Enough of the moaning. Some halfway decent action shots.

Good ball control

Good ball control

The ball did cross the line. The first Walton goal

The ball did cross the line. The first Walton goal

Keeper punching seemingly into his own goal

Keeper punching seemingly into his own goal

More keeper action

More keeper action

Scrappy Walton Casuals first goal

Scrappy Walton Casuals first goal

Penalty

Penalty

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31 Mar 2013

Met Police 1 Carshalton 0


This year has been a good one for Met Police as they sit on the verges of the Ryman Premier play offs. To those not familiar with non-league football, this is 3 promotions below the football league. The ground is a decent small ground near Thames Ditton with a car park and is on the same grounds as the social club for the Met Police. The only problem are small crowds and in fact only 115 arrived for this game and maybe 20 of those were visibly from Carshalton.

The game was as one-sided as a 1-0 game ever could be. Met Police missed a penalty, hit the bar and scored a single goal early in the second half. Realistically this was the last chance saloon for Carshalton who now can look forward to relegation with certainty. The season has been complex for them, with some decent, though apparently highly paid players moving on. One who will certainly move is their keeper Nick Hamann, the best keeper in this league and he kept Carshalton in the game in the first half with a series of superb saves. A conference level keeper in my humble view.

Nathaniel PinneyIMG_9968IMG_0086IMG_0095IMG_0033Met PoliceIMG_0011Goal

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17 Feb 2013

FOOTBALL STEWARDS


I am not a fan of football stewards, and in many cases they often cause trouble that otherwise would not have been there. However today the stewarding at Chelsea was good, almost invisible and appropriate. End of story. What caught me eye though was the head gear worn by one steward who looked more like he should be with Bear Grylls out on an arctic expedition, rather than in the sunshine of Stamford Bridge. But my question is this. Could he actually hear and see anything? ImageImage

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17 Feb 2013

IN HONOUR OF ALL OUR BRAVE MEN- WHO ATE BURGERS?


In this day and age of concern over horse meat and equine food accompaniments, on the way to Stamford Bridge this morning to see the might Brentford play, there was tucked away in the arches a burger van selling delicious burgers. The stone inscription above amused me and suggested some degree of bravery should apply to eat burgers there! 

IN HONOUR OF ALL OUR BRAVE MEN- WHO ATE BURGERS?

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16 Feb 2013

Walton Casuals 1 Eastbourne Town 2. Walton Casuals a consistent team.


A somewhat pleasant day where the sun threatened to shine and photography was halfway possible without floodlights, not that one notices when they come on at Walton . A good day out though, decent game, crowd 106 and the best burger I have had at football for some while.

Walton Casuals if nothing else play in one of the better strips and today there was a riot of orange, red, yellow from both teams. Walton also are consistent having not won a home league game all season and that is why they are second from bottom of the Ryman south League.

The first half was all Eastbourne and until Walton scored with almost the last kick of the half, it looked like it would be a 5-0 type of game. the second half was all Walton and  they were unlucky not to equalise.

The football standard in Ryman South does seem variable this season and although neither of these clubs would fancy their chances against the top sides, they did play a good open game in a decent spirit, and the game was well refereed too.

Mu Maan may be the most important player for Walton judging by how the programme had him down playing at both number 8 and number 10. I did wonder before the game if he might be a large gentleman needing two shirts, however in fact he was of normal size and in fact never really caught the eye today.

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03 Feb 2013

Yoevil 3 Brentford 0. Divine intervention fell on the crowd but not the Brentford team


One of the crazy things in football is how Chelsea can be European champions, and even crazier thing is how one week Brentford can effectively beat Chelsea and then lose comprehensively to Yoevil Town. 

To be positive a visit to Yoevil is always pleasant, the roads lead straight there, car park right next to the away terrace for a mere 2£, decent programme, but Bees always seem to lose and never seem to have much luck. Essentially, that was the pattern from yesterday, and after Bees missed a few chances, the writing was on the wall. A lucky rebound for a first goal for Yoevil, a stunning volley for a second and a decent third. Brentford to me played the wrong team from the start with the wrong tactics with the wrong attitude. The pitch before the game looked good, but as soon as the game started it was clear it was a pudding of a pitch. Bees were well beaten, and frankly beaten on merit, effort and luck. Marek Stech the Yoevil keeper looked as good as I have seen this year, other than our own Simon Moore. 

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03 Feb 2013

How can football fans live their lives without Stewards? Let us rejoice in their wonder and let rays of sunshine descend onto their heads.


The importance of stewards at football is renowned. I feel so safe when I see the stewards, well trained in social and administration skills, and clearly combat at times too. However clearly those of a Divine nature have the same opinion as evidenced by a single ray of sunshine onto this Steward at Yoevil Football club yesterday.
What would we do without stewards? I must thank the ones yesterday for frisking me so thoroughly to ensure that I was not carrying in items such as plutonium or other radioactive substances, or maybe Semtex cleverly disguised as a football programme, or even a dreaded water bottle. Such attention to the important things in life makes me forgive them for not knowing where such unimportant things are such as gents toilets, refreshment kiosk or why they were attempting to cram a large cohort of Brentford fans into only half the terracing initially. Luckily I engaged them in some counting of numbers activities that extended beyond binary, and all said terracing was then opened. But feel free to suggest what they might have been searching me for?Image

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01 Feb 2013
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Reflections on Barcelona


Barcelona is known for many things, a cruise port, football team at Nou Camp, tapas, wine, sunshine and much more. That is all true. However whilst sitting on the upper floors in a hotel during a meeting it was sad to see groups of young people, mainly males, just sitting on benches and hanging round. Wasting time, nothing to do, nowhere to go, no money to spend. This was in an area only 200 yards from Las Ramblas. It real was striking that unemployment in the young is now 55% in Spain. It showed. That was my memory of Barcelona. Sad. Very sad. The impact has been acute for 16 to 24-year-olds, who saw the rate in the last quarter of 2012 surge to 55.13% from 52.34% in the previous three months.Official data showed that the jobless rate in the last three months of 2012 rose 1% to 26%, or 5.97 million people in the whole population.

No evidence of crime but strong evidence of a police presence. No one buying things in shops at all. A sad , sad, city at least in this part. ImageImagespain, unemployment, youth spain, barcelona, tapas, you camp, football, barcelona, squid, sunshine, espana, unemployment rate in spain

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