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On this week's episode of the Proper Football Podcast, the lads spoke about the FA Cup 3rd round and gave their views on the FA's decision to scrap replays and the ridiculous scheduling of games to suit the TV companies. Non-League was also on the agenda, with Gary speaking about our recent visit to Sutton United (Birmingham) for their historic FA Vase cup game match vs Bourne Town, and Darren tells us about his most recent Non-League Vlog, which was at the Beaconsfield Town v Leighton Town game. Make sure to hit the subscribe button on our YouTube channel to watch our future podcasts.

Check out our Podcast streamed Sunday 8th Dec 2024 with: Gary Harris, Darren Ashley and Ex Pros Nigel Callaghan and Phil Cavener Hope you enjoyed our podcast look out for next weeks when we will be join by Mark Lacrouts Director @ Nuneaton Town FC.

We have decided to adopt the wonderful 'Team Makayla'  as our chosen charity. This amazing charity raises money to give children battling cancer a treat which is up to £500 spent on whatever the child wants. We met Mikayla along with her family and volunteers who work tirelessly for the charity on our recent visit to Kettering Town FC where the club was holding a fundraiser for them and we was blown away by Team Makayla and the courageous young lady Mikayla herself who came up with the idea to start this great cause. Mikayla who is 18 years old has been fighting brain cancer since the age of 4 and is still receiving life saving treatment as she continues to battle against this awful disease came up with the idea to give other children a treat to put a smile on their faces at such a difficult time and since the charity has been going some £300,000 has been raised with over 300 treasure boxes granted to the kids with their chosen gifts inside. The charity has won many awards and has also received The Queens Award for Voluntary Service which is an MBE for voluntary groups. This is a fantastic way to bring some light into the darkness and a smile to the children's faces whilst unfortunately fighting cancer. We at Proper Football along with the support of you, our followers, intend to raise as many treats as possible. Each time we reach the goal of £500 this will be handed to team Mikayla who will facilitate a treat to one of the children. This will all be documented and every penny will go to that child so please support us In this quest to raise as many treats to help as many children with cancer as we possibly can! If you are able to. Here are pictures of the many gifts/treats given to the children so far. https://www.teammikayla.org/wishes-granted Cancer has no colours and we, the football family all stand together as one with this message! We already have £500 to give to the charity and we are now on our way to raise another £500 for a second Treat/Treasure box, so if you can, no matter how small please make a donation to our fundraiser or even just sharing it to others would be greatly appreciated! https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/proper-football?utm_term=qGxAKnY2w Thank you in advance for your support and we will keep you updated when the treasure boxes are given to the children.

Six days ago Jono Farrelly & Lee Jennings set off from Weston Super-Mare on their 150 mile TAB (Tactical Advance To Battle) to London to raise funds for the League of Veterans World Cup in May 2025 with the ultimate goal of raising £500k to offer support to homeless veterans not just in this country but globally as well. Everything they raise this year goes towards the logistics of the competition which covers pitch costs, referees, players travel, accommodation and food for the six day duration of the World Cup is on. We went up to The Wellington Barracks near Buckingham Palace to see the two finish their mammoth effort where they were accompanied by some Chelsea pensioners for the last few 100 yards. We was kindly invited into the Barracks where the lads were enjoying a well earned pint and a had a chat about the last six days on the road. The lads epic journey which started from The Grand Pier in Weston Super-Mare took them through Midsomer Norton, Devises, Kintbury, Sonning, Reading and Hounslow to the final destination at The Wellington Barracks saw them endure some tough terrain, big hills, sleeping rough out in the elements and carrying injuries, but with the help and support from kind people on the way who offered food, shelter and medical assistance they managed to get over the line in one piece! As it stands, they have raised just over £2,000 towards the target of £10k to get the World Cup up and running so please donate to the cause if you can or share the link to the GoFundMe which you can find by clicking here 👉 https://gofund.me/d49c78b6 UP THE VETERANS!

Scrolling through social media a few weeks ago we came across a Facebook page called Dad & Son Footy Adventures and it immediately caught our eye! A father and son travel around the country visiting as many football grounds as they can to watch a match or take in a stadium tour, and it's not just limited to the big well-known grounds from the Premier League, they also travel around Scotland visiting Non-League and lower League football clubs and they are today (Thursday 15th Feb) about to embark on a two-day tour of the Scottish Highlands taking in 19 football clubs in 48 hours! We thought it would be great to find out more about the football-mad duo and Dean and his son Reece happily obliged by answering some questions we put to them. Where are you based? We are from Scotland and live in Cowdenbeath, Fife. How long have you been going to football and how old was Reece when he went to his first game? We have been going frequently for just over 1 year but Reece was 5 years old when he went to his 1st proper game. Who do you and Reece support? Rangers. What gave you the bug to start ground hopping especially the lower reaches of Scottish Football? We visited Manchester United for a stadium tour and Manchester City for a tour as well as a game on a birthday trip for Reece. He then wanted to do the rest of the EPL and then it spiralled to any English grounds we passed! We then decided to do Scotland too! How many grounds have you both visited now? 192 and counting! What do you love about non-league football? We feel the connection with the clubs and fans is better, not as crowded and you can move around easily (depending on the game 🤣) Not as many prima-donnas, real people playing real football! I know this is a tough question but what has been yours and Reece's favourite ground that you have visited so far and why? Oh, that is hard. Reece said Ibrox as we have made so many special memories in there (Europa League final run we were at every home game). If I take Ibrox out of the equation the Spurs ground is special just in terms of how beautiful it is but it is also new. This is really hard!! Villa Park was really good also! 🤣 Do you contact the clubs before you visit them and if so how welcoming are they in general? Yes, most of the time I contact the club, especially when we do tours. When we attend matches I tag the clubs in social media posts and sometimes contact them through email. Most clubs are welcoming especially the not-so-big clubs. Most of Scotland has been great up to now, as has England. We do pay for the tours at the bigger clubs. What excursions have you planned in the near future? We are going to tour the Scottish Highland on Thursday 15th and Friday and 16th of February. Were also planning a summer trip down South again to London, Brighton, Bournemouth etc. In October we have another small tour pencilled in but not confirmed clubs yet but will be in Wrexham direction. Do you collect any memorabilia from your ground hops? Yes, Reece collects anything 🤣🤣 Mostly pin badges and street signs from bigger clubs. He has a few shirts signed and unsigned, magnets, pennants etc. Do you have any plans to go out to Germany for the Euros? I actually have the chance of a ticket for the opening match against Germany but I can't get Reece one so I am reluctant to go without him as he is my wee wingman! Have you done any ground hops abroad? We did a couple. of grounds in Turkey while on holiday. One was a training facility in The Gloria Hotel and the other was a Turkish 2-league club Serikspor. What football stadium is at the top of yours and Reece's bucket list? Mine is the La Bombonera home of Boca Juniors in Buenos Aries, Argentina. And Reece's choice is The Santiago Bernabeu, the home of Real Madrid. We saw on your Facebook page that you and Reece visited every Scottish Premiership Stadium in under 13 hours to raise funds for the Edinburgh Children's Hospital Charity, how did that come about and how did it go? We took on this challenge on the 3rd of April 2023 with Andy from FFF and Alex, who was a patient in the hospital when he was younger. We didn't stop once for any proper food, we were literally on a mission!!!! We got all the clubs involved and they were all amazing. We had such a brilliant day and we raised £2,250 for the charity! We made a video about the day on our YouTube which you can watch below and it would be great if people reading this can give us a follow and subscribe to our channel. Finally Dean, what is the best way for people to follow your and Reece's adventures? We post most of our content on Facebook and we are also on Instagram. It's been an absolute pleasure talking to you and Reece and we wish you all the best on your future adventures and fingers crossed you both get to do your bucket list stadiums one day!

Our latest guest ground hopping blogger is 'The Grey Haired Ground Hopper' Since the end of the Covid lockdown Brian, AKA The Grey Haired Ground Hopper, decided to embark on his own Ground hopping adventures, having been inspired by many others who do this pastime, with the aim is to visit as many previously unvisited football grounds as possible from all tiers of the Scottish domestic game and blog about each one. He has kindly shared with us from his excellent website his latest ground hop blogging adventure which is his first one outside of Scotland! Please make sure to check out all of The Grey Haired Ground Hopper's other social media links at the end of the article. Come fly with me, let’s fly, let’s fly away Today is the day that I’ve had marked in my calendar for a while. Just a little over two years since my first Groundhopping outing was a short trip along the A82 to Dumbarton I’m getting on a plane and taking my blog across the sea! Ok, so some may point out it’s only across the Irish Sea, it’s still part of the United Kingdom etc and it’s true you can probably fly from Glasgow to Belfast quicker than a morning commute in Glasgow across the Kingston Bridge but in my 35 years of existence I’ve never stepped foot in Northern Ireland despite it being so close! More to the point when it comes to football stadiums, Belfast has five clubs in the Northern Ireland Premiership alone not to mention many others in the lower divisions too so I really was spoiled for choice when it came to match selection! However there’s one stadium that many past visitors have referred to online as a must see and the opportunity to visit Glentoran’s The Oval could not be ignored, so it’s an NIFL Premiership fixture against Carrick Rangers going under the microscope today with an added layer of hospitality thrown in for good measure! The club: One half of Belfast’s “Big Two”, 137 trophies since formation in 1882 is an impressive haul although the last of their 23 league titles was back in season 2008/09 as their fans have had to watch fellow Belfast sides Linfield, Cliftonville and Crusaders have multiple successes since. Glentoran are also famous (or infamous) for rejecting a certain George Best as a youngster because he was “too small and light” and in more recent times, July 2023 to be precise, Glentoran were the unlucky losers in a record-breaking European game against Gzira United from Malta. The tie went all the way to extra time and penalties, with Gzira winning 14-13 on penalties. This is the highest scoring penalty shoot-out ever in European competition. Distance from home: 151 miles Bet McLean Oval Capacity: 26,556 (6,050 safe capacity) Attendance: around 2,000 Admission: £48 (hospitality) The stadium: There’s a few famous sports grounds around the world called The Oval but none can match this gem. This stadium was severely damaged during the Belfast Blitz in 1941 by the Germans due to its close proximity to the docks and it wasn’t finished being rebuilt until 1949. The impressive main grandstand was built in 1953 and the other seated stand for the away fans on the side wasn't added until 2000. The ground requires consistent maintenance to fulfill health and safety requirements and its total capacity is currently restricted to 6,050, a far cry from its record crowd of 55,000 in a European match against Rangers back in season 66/67. Plans to completely redevelop this ground were submitted in 2021 but the collapse of Stormont in 2022 meant funding is yet to be secured but with the Northern Ireland politicians back being friendly again for the time being, could it finally happen? One thing is for certain, It’s truly a must see ground in its current condition. 5/5 The form: To prepare for my first foray into Northern Irish football I utilised live footage of both teams on the BBC I player in the run up to the game. I had observed both teams in home games against the same opponents, title contenders Cliftonville, and noticed both sides concede stoppage time goals. The Glens had thrown a way a 2-0 lead to draw and Carrick Rangers lost 1-0 in terrible weather conditions. In between those matches I had seen Glentoran get an impressive 6-1 win away to lower league opponents in the Irish Cup so I expected goals to flow today. The match: It was a slowish start to the game with the visitors happy to let Glentoran have most of the ball but the first incident of note was with a quarter of an hour gone as O’Connor was played in on goal on the right and appeared to bundled over as he was about to shoot but the ref must have seen something different and the game continued. A penalty and a red card for the visitors was somehow avoided. However they didn’t need to wait long for the opening goal as 20 minutes has gone when Bobby Burns struck with a low shot from the edge of the box for the opening goal. This was the fourth game in a row he had scored. Glentoran remained comfortable throughout the half so it was no shock when David Fisher made it 2-0 as he turned on the edge of the area and fired into the bottom corner with just under 10 minutes to go to half time. There was a chance of note for both sides before half time as McCullogh but in a great last ditch block on a rare Carrick attack and a goalmouth scramble at the other end almost brought a third goal which wouldn’t have been underserved at this point for the home side. Half time: Glentoran 2-0 Carrick Rangers Early in the second half Carrick almost scored an own goal as O’Connor drove in to penalty and his low cross was just put behind by the Carrick defender. Junior was then played through but a tame effort was saved by foot of Carrick keeper Glendenning as he seemed to hesitate slightly before taking the shot. Then just after the hour mark Carrick pulled one back out of nowhere with a wonder strike from Mitchell from outside the area. All of sudden it was game on! Glentoran had the ball in the net shortly after but O’Connor was offside from a rebound from a spilled free kick. Not entitled sure the match officials made the right call here either! Inevitably, Glentoran would pay for these controversial decisions and missed chances as with just over five minutes remaining former Glens forward Curtis Allen finished from close range to spark wild celebrations in the away end. They was a lot of desperation as stoppage time seemed to last forever as Glentoran tried their best to turn this game back in their favour late on but as the full time whistle went and Carrick celebrated an unlikely comeback there were some boos from the home fans who were understandably frustrated at another lead being blown. Full time: Glentoran 2-2 Carrick Rangers Overall: A game in which Glentoran had gone from total control to total meltdown by the end. The visitors were completely out of the game until they got their first one back and from there possibly could have taken all three points away with them. Glentoran must be fuming as that’s twice in a row two certain victories have ended in draws and questions have to be asked about the manner in which they are finishing games off. With three of the four goals today being very good strikes my first experience of Northern Ireland league football certainly didn’t disappoint. 9/10 Man of the match: Fisher was the best player on the park for me, not just his goal was class but his overall link up play with his team mates was great. He’s just renewed his contract for another year here and it’s easy to see why Glentoran would be delighted he’s staying. The grub: At £48 the hospitality option was worth every penny. You watch from a portacabin beside the old Main stand which is a little strange at first as you don’t hear the full crowd noise from inside it! Now in Scotland, hospitality for this price would maybe mean a limit to the number of drinks available or even a pay bar but not here! A cool box of various canned alcoholic beverages was kept topped up throughout the entire time we were there and there was plenty of sandwiches provided and a good chicken curry meal at half time to soak up the booze. If your going to travel a distance to visit here I’d recommend this option! Leanne was a brilliant host and a special thanks for letting me access the pitch before the game to shoot a video from the centre circle too. 5/5 Final thoughts: Loved every second of my time in Belfast and the football was no exception. The standard of play is probably not that far off a lower half Scottish Premiership match but it’s much more value for money and there’s no VAR to steal the show! If you can, don’t take my word for it and come watch a game here for yourself. Now I’m off to experience the delights of Belfast Town Centre on a Saturday night and if it’s as entertaining as the game was then the good times will roll! I can say for sure though, with so may more teams in Belfast to check out, I’ll be back! The Grey Haired Ground Hopper Once again, a big thank you to the Grey Haired Ground Hopper for sharing his wonderful blog with us. You can follow The Grey Haired Ground Hopper on all his social media platforms by clicking on all the following links Facebook - Twitter - Instagram - TikTok and YouTube and you can find all his excellent previous and future adventures on his website

Below you can watch the first episode of our brand new, Proper Football 'The Podcast' The lads joined by resident ex-pro Nigel 'Cally' Callaghan debate Sin bins and Blue cards in next seasons FA Cup, VAR, and many other topics from Non-League to the Premier League. We hope you enjoy it and please subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch the next episode live.

Join us at 5pm Sunday 11th of February on our first Proper Football The Podcast! The show will be streamed live on our YouTube channel on X (Twitter), Instagram and our Facebook page. Proper Footballs Gary, Dan and Greg will be joined by our resident ex-pro, the former Watford and Derby winger Nigel "Cally" Callaghan who was a major part of Graham Taylors excellent Watford team in the 80s. The lads will be debating the hot topics in the football world from Non-League to the Premier League. The main concept of Proper Football is to give fans of the game from all levels a voice and a platform to have their say so we welcome you all to get involved with the live podcast and join in with the conversation and raise any topics you would like us to discuss. So make sure to either subscribe to our YouTube channel or watch the podcast on one of our socials from 5 pm Sunday 11th of February and get involved!

Whilst scrolling through Facebook recently we came across a post that immediately caught our eye, the picture was of a football shirt collector standing in front of an amazing array of football kits from all over the world and also includes many non-league sides from the UK. We were so intrigued by the collection we messaged Arjan Wijngaard the man in the picture to find out more about him and his many shirts! Thanks for taking the time to talk to us Arjan, so, where are you from and who do you support? I'm from Groningen in the Netherlands, and of course I support my local team FC Groningen! Besides that I also support Feyenoord and in England I support Everton. Feyenoord FC In most countries I have a favourite team (but not really supporting them) like Celtic, Werder Bremen and Sporting Portugal who all play in green and white Jerseys! Welling Town FC How long have you been collecting football shirts? I started collecting in 1997. How many do you have in your collection? At the moment I have 2,971 shirts in my collection. Where do you keep your huge collection? I have a room in my house that is solely dedicated to my collection! (these 3 photos credited to http://www.philipphoto.nl/ ) What made you start collecting shirts? Of course I like football, going to home and away games with my favourite team, and watching the Bundesliga and the Premier league highlights on TV. At that moment I decided to collect shirts, and why shirts? I don't know! What is your favourite shirt? In general I like to collect (recent) shirts from smaller teams (non league) or from far away. Its very difficult to point out one specific shirt. if your talking about colours I like green/white shirts and black shirts the most. What's the most you have paid for a shirt? 150 euro (125 pounds). It was for a match worn FC Groningen shirt used during a Europa League game in 2015. FC Groningen won the “KNVB-beker” (FA-cup) for the first time, and played in the Europa League (which they don't do often) and this shirt had a sponsor that was used only during those games. FC Groningen Which shirt means the most to you? I have an old FC Groningen shirt form the beginning of ‘80’s period. It is match worn and possibly also during the Europa League game against Atletico Madrid. A shirt that old you don't see often, and specially match worn. Have you been to a game at each ground the shirts are from? Unfortunately not, But if I go to a game, I try to obtain a shirt from both teams. It doesn't have to be one from that specific game/season, just a shirt from the team is fine. Chesham United FC How many grounds have you visited? I'm not counting them, but I think its about 200 and if I count the grounds without a game I think its 300-400! What is your favourite ground? Very difficult to say, most grounds have their own charm like big grounds such as Goodison Park, Wembley or “De Kuip” in Rotterdam, But also grounds like Prenton Park, Brisbane Road or Selhurst Park are very nice. and of course most non-league grounds are great as well. I like grounds in a residential area, with people living next door, and pubs nearby. De Kuip, Rotterdam What shirts are you missing from your collection? Looking to the fact that I like to obtain a shirt from every team I've seen playing live, I'm still missing a few. they are Hashtag United, Marine AFC, Ilford FC, Witham Town FC and Bracknell Town. Besides that I like to collect non league shirts in general, so still missing a lot haha. ST Helens Town How often do you travel to the UK to watch football? I try to go 3 or 4 times a year with a preference for London or Liverpool, but I've also been to cities/areas like Birmingham, Wales, Glasgow, Southend. Gloucester City What's the furthest you have travelled to a game? I've seen only games in Europe, and often in a combination with visiting a big city. I've been as far to Lisbon, Athens, Istanbul, Rome and Seville. Loja CD What do you enjoy about non-league football in the UK? I really like the accessibility of non-league plus the clubs and their supporters are great and also the willingness to help me to get a shirt from their team in my collection. Windsor FC Do you collect other memorabilia? When I go to a game or a ground I often buy a scarf and a pin badge from the home team. I think I have around 300 scarfs and 200 badges! What would you say is the best era for football kits? For me its the current period because there is much attention and energy put into producing and making football shirts. Its makes it nice to search for them and with all the social media options it makes it accessible to contact the clubs and their supporters. And also to have contact with other collectors. Coventry Sphinx FC How easy is it to tell the difference between an official shirt and a copy? Its getting more and more difficult, the copies from Asia are getting better and better. Its very difficult to see the difference, that's also one of the reasons why I focus on the smaller teams (non league) as you can be pretty sure that they are original shirts!. Which country's leagues tend to have the best football kits in your opinion? For me its the UK, the home shirts are mostly real classics, very easy to recognise with the badge/logo and most are really fantastic. Everton FC Which international team kit is your favourite? I really don't have a favourite, as a collector I like to collect small countries like San Marino, Bhutan or Lichtenstein, as a football fan I have a big preference for league football. Girona FC What trips do you have planned in the near future to grow your collection? And do you think you will ever stop collecting or will you just have to buy a bigger property to store it all in? No concrete plans as of yet but probably Milan in march and England in April. No, I don't have any plans to stop collecting as their are many teams still to go! and there's no plans to move as there is still space in the room with a little bit of re-organising! How can people contact you to assist you with your collection and to find out more about it? All my shirts are displayed on www.voetbalshirts.org, and I'm also active on Facebook , X/Twitter or Instagram and I can be reached by mail on arjan@voetbalshirts.org Also if there is anyone reading this who could help me with a shirt from their Non-League team they can contact me as well! Once again, a big thank you to Arjan for sharing an insight into his fantastic collection!

There's nothing quite like an away win and travelling back with 3 points in the bag! Here are all the pictures of the victorious away ends from the top 5 divisions from the weekend. Friday night saw Leeds United continue their great run of form with a 1-0 win a Bristol City which keeps them well in the hunt for the second automatic promotion spot with an early second half winner from Wilfried Gnonto. In the Premier League Aston Villa completely out classed Sheffield United and were 4-0 up inside 30 minutes! and it was soon to be 5-0 two minutes into the second half which ended up being the final score. The 2900 Villa fans who packed out the bottom tier at Bramall Lane see the Villans remain in the top 4 of the Premier League in what has been a fantastic season so far under Unai Emery. 3OOO Wolves fans at Stamford Bridge saw their team come from 1-0 down to play Chelsea off the park and run out easy 4-2 winners. hats off to Gary O'Neil who has been excellent at the helm for the Wanderers since taking over as manager. Leicester City continued their dominance at the top of the Championship blowing away Stoke City 5-0 at The Bet 365 Stadium and now sit 11 points clear at he top with veteran striker 37 year old Jamie Vardy getting a brace. Southampton fans who made the long journey up to South Yorkshire were rewarded with a 2-0 win at bottom club Rotherham United making it an amazing 21 games unbeaten in the League! and see's them sitting in second place in the table. Cardiff City got back to winning ways after two defeats and earned an excellent 3 points at playoff chasing Watford with a 1-0 win at Vicarage Road with a Josh Bowler goal just before half time. Plymouth Argyle finally got their first away win of the season to reward their amazing fans who always travel in big numbers despite the huge distances they have to cover and Morgan Whittaker's 18th minute goal proved to be decisive in the 1-0 win. QPR made it three unbeaten with a valuable 3 points at Blackburn Rovers who are in free fall at the minute and now 8 games without a League win. Rangers are still in the relegation zone but the 2-1 win at Ewood Park sees them close the gap on those above. Lincoln City won their first game in ten ending a dismal run by beating Burton Albion 1-0 with a Reeco Hackett 54th minute winner. Wycombe Wanderers raced into a 3-0 lead just after half time at Cheltenham Town who managed to pull one back but that's where the fight back ended and the Chairboys took all 3 points back home. Derby County continued their charge up League One with a 1-0 win in the capital moving them up to second spot against a managerless Charlton side who are plummeting towards the relegation zone. Bristol Rovers new loan signing from Nottingham Forest Costa Rican international Brandon Aguilera scored on his debut for the Gas Heads in a the 1-0 win at Exeter City with a cracking finish. Wigan Athletic inflicted Peterborough's only second home defeat of the season with an impressive 3-2 win at The Posh, the home side rallied late on pulling two goals back in injury time but The Latics held on. In the midtable clash between Shrewsbury Town and Cambridge United it was the away team who took the spoils coming from behind to win 2-1 and leapfrog their opponents. There was only one away win in League Two and that fell to Morecambe who beat Crawley Town 2-1 making it Two wins on the spin for the Shrimpers. In the National League runaway leaders Chesterfield stretched there lead to 19 points with a 3-1 win at Eastleigh. Second place Bromley lost at home to Super Kevin Phillips Hartlepool side 2-1 coming from behind to take all 3 points which see's The Monkey Hangers who had 161 travelling fans move to within 6 points of the playoffs. Aldershot Town consolidated their playoff position coming from behind to beat FC Halifax 2-1. Gateshead continued their impressive season and occupy the last playoff spot with a great 1-0 win at Southend United in front of their 61 supporters who made the long journey down. Boreham Wood beat relegation threatened Woking 1-0 despite being reduced to 10 men just before half time after going 1-0 up in the 14th minute but managed to hold on to take all 3 points. Dagenham and Redbridge won a hard thought game at Rochdale with all the goals in the 2-1 win coming in the first half. AFC Fylde won a vital six pointer at Dorking Wanderers near the bottom of the League winning 3-1 on the road. Altrincham leapfrogged Solihull Moors in the playoff positions in the hunt for promotion with an excellent 1-0 away win at The ARMCO Arena. You can checkout all the latest league table standings on our dedicated menu above. YOU CAN'T BEAT AN AWAYDAY, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU WIN!

For my latest Non-League vlog, yesterday, I went to a step 6 clash in the Spartan South Midlands Division 1 between 3rd place Moulton and leaders Northampton ON CHENECKS (Old Northamptonians). This is a game I have been looking forward to for a while since I received an invite to do a vlog at Moulton. At start of play it was 3rd v 1st, and the home side were out to make it 3 wins in 2 months against Chenecks. Would the away team get sweet revenge??? I’m gonna say it quickly this week… I won’t spoil what happened in the match because I’d appreciate it if you could try to give the vlog a bit of a view which you can find below. A few weeks ago, I had an invite from Steve Alibone to attend Moulton FC, so, I had a quick look at their upcoming fixtures and found this tasty looking one! Steve was great, keeping in touch and assured me that he would show me around a bit on matchday, which is always reassuring when wanting different bits to film. Matchday arrives, I turn up, it’s cold but sunny, and park up, for a step 6 club there's quite a big car park outside the ground. As soon as I go in and introduce myself, I was made so welcome by everyone at the club. Often, I do get a little nervous but I talk loads to cover it up! Steve, as promised, showed me around the ground and the clubhouse which was really nice. I bumped into both managers and did my groundwork by arranging a pre and post match interview, which then gave me plenty of time to relax before kick off. I wanted to film the match from the main stand which would give me a view from slightly higher up but the sun shining straight at it put paid to that as the visual would be rubbish. The game came and went, some of it very exciting, and some less so, but I must admit, I enjoyed listening to the side line comments from fans and management. One particular lady, a lovely woman called Judy (she is featured on the vid having a pop at the ref), told me that her husband used to play at Middlesbrough with the one and only Brian Clough, but a broken leg put paid to her hubby’s pro career. So, after wrapping up the filming and barely being able to feel my fingers, I headed off home with the memories of a lovely afternoon at an even better club whirring in my head. I also must mention, that everyone who I spoke to at ON Chenecks were great too with me, and I hope to record there at the not to distant future. Just a quick warning, if you are easily offended by... erm… industrial language, best if you don’t watch it. I even got caught up in it, but edited my sweary Mary moment out! Here's the VLOG, Enjoy! Once again a big thankyou to Darren Ashley for sharing another great VLOG with us! You can watch all of Darren's VLOGS and other content by subscribing to his YouTube channel by clicking the following link. https://www.youtube.com/@dash7148

Last weekend me and my cousin did the Sheffield Weekender! We first visited Hillsborough the home of Sheffield Wednesday on the Saturday and then Bramall Lane, the home of Sheffield United on the Sunday. Saturdays opponents for the newly promoted Owls side who are currently in the relegation zone and fighting for safety was last season’s championship play-off finalists Coventry City who are firmly in the hunt for the play-offs once again. Hillsborough is a 39,732 seated stadium, opened in 1899 and was used for many FA Cup semi-finals over the years and hosted 4 games at the 1966 World Cup tournament. On Sunday, The Blades who are rock bottom and fighting for safety after gaining promotion last season to the Premier League face West Ham United the current European Conference League Champions and a team that has had a fantastic season so far but are facing an injury and AFCON crisis. Bramall Lane is a 32,050 seated stadium and was opened in 1855 and has been renovated and expanded over the years. We set off early doors from London on Saturday morning up to Sheffield, we parked the car near Hillsborough and when we got out of the car it was absolutely freezing! I had to put my gloves, hat, and my neck warmer on to keep me warm. As we walked towards the ground, I was filled with excitement on seeing this historic iconic stadium before me, a ground with its huge vast stands but one that is also sadly etched into history with the tragic loss of 97 Liverpool fans back in 1989 at the FA Cup Semi-Final against Nottingham Forest. Onto the game, firstly, I got my programme, if you know me, you'll know I'm a lover of football programmes and wherever I go I’ve got to have one! It cost £3 and the programme was a decent one and it had everything In It you could ask for! We then made our way into the club shop, it was tiny and a bit overpriced on everything, but I bought a keyring as I always usually buy something to remind me of my time at a new ground. Then we waited at the gates to see if any players would come by, and I was very fortunate to meet The Owls captain Barry Bannan! We had a lovely walk around the ground, and grabbed a burger which was very nice and was a decent price at £4. We headed up to the turnstiles which were proper old-fashioned and very different to what you see nowadays. The Stadium was stunning and old school which I like. I was seated in the Kop end which is the noisy stand and home to the Sheffield Wednesday barmy army with their drums and trumpets and when kick-off loomed it was filled up in good numbers. The players came out and the travelling Coventry city fans who were their in big numbers made their voices heard welcoming the Sky Blues onto the pitch before being drowned out by a rendition of “Hi Ho Sheffield Wednesday!” The atmosphere was amazing from both sets of supporters and helped by the fact it was such an exciting game, I loved it and to be honest, the best team won by taking their chances with Coventry City winning the game by 2 goals to 1 with two great goals by Ben Sheaf that put Coventry fans into raptures and absolute Limbs! Sheffield Wednesday got a late goal back, but it was to little too late. Sadly, the match was overshadowed just before the end of the game when Coventry's Kasey Palmer was racially abused by a Sheffield Wednesday Supporter in the Kop end, there is no place for this anywhere in football or society and we hope the culprit is dealt with severely, we wish Kasey Palmer the very best and hope it doesn't affect him to much going forward. With the game finished we walked back to the car and travelled back to our hotel in the middle of city which was called OYO Flagship. We then headed out for dinner and had a great night out in Sheffield, if you haven't been before we fully recommend it! Sunday Morning, we woke up early to another cold Sheffield day on what was to be an Away Day for my beloved West Ham United! We had a good night's sleep, so after a quick shower and new clobber for the day we headed down for a bit of breakfast that wasn't much cop to be honest! We checked out and headed to the hotel car park dropped our bags in the boot and set off on what was a 25-minute walk to Bramall Lane and took in some of the sites of the beautiful city. We arrived at the ground and the outside was a bit odd, so we kept on walking around the stadium till we got to the main entrance, it looked amazing! We ventured into the club shop, and you know the drill by now as I bought another programme which was £3.50 and full of decent content, I also purchased another keyring similar to the one I bought at Sheffield Wednesday to keep as a souvenir. The shop itself was very decent and had cheaper prices than their City rival’s who are a Championship team! Afterwards, we did the same thing at Sheffield Wednesday and waited to see if the managers and players would stop before the game, and we met Blades manager Chris Wilder, new signing Ben Breton Diaz, and Gustavo Hamer sadly the Hammers players did not want to stop which was a disappointment. We then made our way around to away end and headed through the turnstile after having our tickets scanned and a quick search by the stewards. When I walked up the stairs, I was blown away, it was stunning, I loved the stadium and the stands were just like a sea of red in the Sheffield sunshine! With the stands starting to fill up we ventured onto the concourse with our fellow West Ham fans who were as noisy and vociferous as always on their travels, we then found our seats and settled down just in time for the teams to come out with the Sheffield United fans singing their famous anthem “Greasy Chip Butty” whilst the hammers gave a rendition of “I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles.” It was a great atmosphere from both sets of supporters once again! The game was an entertaining one with plenty of drama including both teams going down to 10 men, the Hammers looked like they was going back to East London with all three points, but the referee made two big late calls, he gave Sheffield United a chance to equalise from the penalty spot 13 minutes into extra time, which they scored to make it 2-2 and then a minute later West Ham had a big appeal for a penalty of their own when Bowen looked like he had been fouled but the referee wasn't interested, like most weeks in the Premier League the refs and VAR caused plenty of debate and both of these incidents was certainly talked about by the press and on sky sports referee watch on Monday morning. After the game we waited to see the West Ham players get onto the coach and I met James Ward-Prowse, Danny Ings, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Aaron Cresswell, and Kevin Nolan as they were heading to their private taxis. Then we headed back to the car and hit the motorway towards home. We had a great weekend in Sheffield and I cannot wait for the next trip. Thanks for reading! Sheffield Wednesday 1 – 2 Coventry City – Attendance: 28,129 Sheffield United 2 – 2 West Ham Utd – Attendance: 29,164 By Bailey Howard Thanks for sharing your weekend Ground hop double header in Sheffield with us Bailey!