We may be in the midst of a pandemic with new cases of Covid-19 at a record level in the UK, but football goes on regardless.
On one level, the continuation of elite sport, as it is known, is a good thing, as it gives us an escape from what is a difficult time for many people coping with uncertainty and isolation.
On the other hand, the idea that those running football thought that they could turn back the tide of infections overwhelming society as a whole took some believing and too many recent breaches of protocols and matches being called off at the 11th hour suggests that they aren’t winning. King Canute could have given them some advice on that one.
Controlling what footballers do outside of the stadium and training ground is impossible and so much depends on their willingness to do the right thing. Whilst highly paid, sometimes players don’t match that with intelligent behaviour, failing to appreciate what privileged lives they lead and their wider responsibilities as role models, whether they like that tag or not.
They still hug and jump on top of eachother when scoring a goal, behaviour that would see the long arm of the law reach out to them for breach of protocols outside of the stadium. Why are all those people, whoever they might be, sitting in the stands wearing masks when the players on the pitch set such a bad example?
Whilst appreciating that you can’t keep two metres apart all the time, contact should be limited to the game itself and not the celebrations. It just doesn’t look right and will encourage some idiots to think they don’t need to social distance either.
Today, social media ensures there is no hiding place and instances of breaches of protocol are splashed around for all to see. The majority of people abiding by the rules rightly expect those in the public eye to do the same and, whether you are Rita Ora, Kay Burley or Jack Grealish, you shouldn’t be surprised to be on the receiving end of some pretty strong criticism.
Having had a few matches with fans in attendance, we are now back behind-closed-doors and dependent on television and streaming to watch the action. You may remember fans, “shouty people who used to watch games, sometimes vibrantly booing when they saw things that distressed them” as Rod Liddle recently described them in The Sunday Times.
For many fans, watching football matches is a Saturday ritual based around kick off at 3 o’clock, a pint or two before and after the match and catching up with your mates. It has become less so for Premier League fans with matches strung out from Friday to Monday and the risk to clubs is that, with a prolonged absence, people will lose the habit of going altogether.
The initial reactions to streaming were mixed, with criticisms over cost and quality, those presenting the Brakes broadcasts coming in for some early stick on the latter. For full-time professional clubs with media departments and established television channels, broadcasting matches is part of the day job but, for non-league clubs, it was a big step into the unknown.
Early teething troubles were only to be expected, but practice makes perfect and I suspect that the experience will come in handy for some time to come as streaming matches becomes an established feature even when fans return.
As a racing journalist, I have seen the behind-closed-doors staging of the sport since last summer and it is a pretty spooky experience. Sport is theatre and, without the audience, so much of the experience is lost. Horses can’t catch coronavirus, but those working with them can and the fact that no cases have emanated from a racecourse shows that the protocols have worked. Only the weather has intervened to force meetings to be called off.
But for football, already facing a difficult time, each postponement makes the situation worse. In its wisdom, the FA decided to threaten clubs pulling out of their third round cup ties with expulsion from the competition when putting a supportive arm around the shoulder of the remaining non-league clubs who don’t have the size of squads of their professional counterparts would have been a better approach. If you have 14 players testing negative in the lead-up to the match, you must play the tie, no excuses accepted.
As a result, Aston Villa, with an undisclosed number of players and staff members testing positive, had to field their academy side against Liverpool. With an average age of under 19 and nobody with first team experience, they were eventually and inevitably no match for the champions. In fact, some were too young to have taken their driving test, being dropped off at Villa Park by their parents.
Whilst the plaudits for their efforts were well earned and nice to read, does the situation really enhance “the magic of the cup” in what is what is promoted as the world’s oldest cup competition? I think not.
Below the elite level, all football has stopped with leagues considering how, if at all, they can complete the season. Listening recently to another excellent Brakes Podcast, Jason Cadden told of how, because of postponements for foot and mouth disease and an unfit New Windmill pitch (it was either baked and cracked, or like a paddy field in those days) his side played three times a week in the closing stages of the 2000-01 season to catch up and land the Midland Football Combination Division Two title and set the Brakes bandwagon rolling.
It’s a lot easier to do that if you have floodlights but, for those clubs in the lower leagues that don’t, kick-off times come early in March and getting players from work to the ground in time isn’t easy. One option is to scrap the home and away fixtures and just play each club once. It’s not ideal, but may have to come.
Southam United, who I help out with match reports and news articles, have played just three league matches and none at all since November 4th. With the Hellenic League suspended and clubs having been promised 10 days notice of the re-start of fixtures, it is difficult to see any movement in the foreseeable future. The picture is looking pretty bleak at the bottom rung of the non-league pyramid.
For many Brakes fans, the first name that will spring to mind when thinking of goalkeepers that have played for us over the years, is Tony Breeden. Having worked with Paul Holleran at both Rushall Olympic and Sutton Coldfield Town, the then 21 year old was one of the first players to be signed by the manager soon after he arrived at Leamington in November 2009, and he spent an eventful three spells on Harbury Lane, making 341 appearances for us and scoring four goals.
The word ‘legend’ is possibly overused in football terms but there is little doubt of Tony’s status among Leamington fans over his time at the club. Although he scared the bejesus out of us on many occasions with his kamikaze runs out of his penalty area to take on (and usually beat) opposition attackers, they became part and parcel of his game and endeared him further to the supporters, who gave them their own song.
We had already been used to having a ‘keeper who scored goals in the past when Richard Morris played for us, but Breeden took it to another level in his last few seasons at the club, scoring penalties, saving and scoring them in crucial shoot-outs, and most of all making some stunning saves that arguably won us promotion back to the National League North. He has made his mark on our recent history, of that there is no doubt.
Brakes fans had first come across Breeden back in 2007/08 when their team faced off against Rushall in the Southern League Midland Division, but even then he had already played a good number of games in his embryonic career. Given his tendency to roam from his penalty area and to take penalties, it may come as a surprise to learn that he has always played as a goalkeeper.
‘Yeah, I’ve never really played outfield. I played a few games at centre half at senior school.
And a few games up top when I was 18-22ish for my Dad’s Sunday side whilst at Leamington the first time round. This was definitely the best thing I did as I went from being pretty awful with my feet to being comfortable and never panicking on the ball, which I need to be for the way I play!’
Like so many growing up in the 90’s and early noughties, Tony was mesmerised by Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United side as a child. ‘The reason I played football was Peter Schmeichel!
‘I remember watching a Man Utd game on TV and he stood out with his big blonde hair and I just instantly wanted to be him. So I dyed my hair blonde and that was that. It’s probably why I’ve got no hair left now!!’
As he started to play football before the age of 10, like so many others in the game Tony cites his parents as his biggest influence as they helped him to chase his dream.
‘I started at a team called Baverstars on a Saturday morning. I think it was an Under 10’s league and our whole team was 8 years old, or something like that. We used to lose every game at least 8/9 nil, but I absolutely loved it!
‘My parents were definitely the biggest influence. They used to run up and down the country getting me to football here, there and everywhere.My dad was ultra critical but in a good way, he never let me get comfortable which looking back was brilliant for me.’
Long standing Brakes fans may recall a couple of tough games in the Midland Combination Division 1 against Knowle back in 2001/2002. It was here that Tony got his first experience of men’s football a season or so later, playing alongside a certain Richard Batchelor, whose brother Michael had also turned out for the village side. Breeden has only good memories of his brief time there, saying ‘it was brilliant to be fair. I only played about 20 games for them.’
His performances clearly caught the eye of someone, as Tony was quickly hoisted up from the Midland Combination to Step 4 by Sutton Coldfield Town, making his debut towards the end of the 2004/2005 campaign in a Southern League Division One West fixture at Coles Lane against Bromsgrove Rovers; and writing the sort of headlines that would become commonplace in the years to come.
(Report from the Worcester News)
Teenage goalkeeper denies strikers
Sutton Coldfield Town 0 Bromsgrove Rovers 0 Southern League Division One West
BROMSGROVE Rovers’ slight automatic promotion hopes slipped further out of sight after teenage goalkeeper Anthony Breeden produced a man of the match display to keep them at bay on Monday night.
Breeden, aged 16, produced a performance mature beyond his years at Coles Lane and capped it off by denying Rovers’ own 19-year-old prodigy, Matthew Barnes-Homer, with a stunning save at the death.
It was the away side who looked the more dangerous but despite forcing four corners in a row in the opening ten minutes Bromsgrove were unable to open up resolute Sutton.
The first chance of the game fell to Town striker Luke Fuller in the 16th minute, but he could not control captain Mark Wolsey’s cross and sent his volley over the bar.
Kevin Banner’s dogged determination saw him win the ball off Richard Gardner in the 21st minute and he set Paul Szewczyk free in the box, only for Lucan Spittle’s timely challenge to deny him.
Rovers came out for the second half with more vigour but found Breeden an impenetrable wall.
The keeper got down smartly to save Leon Broadhurst’s low long range shot and then dived at Szewczyk’s feet as he tried to pounce on the rebound in the 52nd minute.
Arthur Appleton then missed the best chance of the game in the 58th minute.
Banner’s incisive pass set the striker free down the middle for a one-on-one with Breeden.
However, the young keeper was given time by the hesitant striker and made a good save with his feet.
Appleton was replaced by Matthew Barnes-Homer in the 71st minute and he had a powerful shot cannon off the bar when Banner’s 86th minute corner came to him on the left of the box.
Rovers poured forward in search of the winner and Barnes-Homer was unleashed into the penalty area after a good run by Mark Benbow.
His rising shot in the 88th minute seemed destined to curl into Breeden’s right hand corner, but the goalkeeper acrobatically flung himself and palmed the ball away to frustrate Rovers and stick a knife through the heart of their top two hopes.
By Peter McKinney
Tony was picked up by then Conference side Tamworth the following season, making a somewhat chastening debut in February 2006 as part of Mark Cooper’s injury ravaged team away at Woking, where they lost 5-0.
During the 05/06 campaign Tony went out to gain further experience on loan at Walsall Wood, then in the West Midlands League Division 1, and at Stourport Swifts in the Southern League. The following season was spent at Solihull Borough under Mickey Moore in the Southern League Division One Midlands, where more future Brakes links appeared. This was to be the club’s last ever season, as in the summer of 2007 they merged with Moor Green to form Solihull Moors.
‘I played the whole season for Solihull Borough that year. Joe Clarke scored the last ever goal for them!’ This was at Berkhamsted Town on April 28th 2007, where Boro’ recorded a 4-2 win in their final fixture. We agree that it is strange that there is barely anything of note recorded online about Solihull Borough, a club which gave Hollers his first managerial position in the Southern League. ‘I know, it’s pretty sad really given the history of the club and all that.’ Tony cannot recall anyone other than himself and Joe Clarke that is still playing today from that last ever Boro’ side. However, after some substantial digging I managed to get hold of the team line up from the programme that day, and it turns out that Tony has been playing with former team mate Jack Byrne at Nuneaton this past season!! There was also one Richard Adams named in the Solihull squad, the season before he returned to Leamington for the final time.
The 2007/2008 season would be the first time that Breeden would take on Leamington, as he was then part of Holleran’s Rushall Olympic side that along with Brakes, reached the Play Offs in the Midland Division. Brakes of course were in their first season back in the Southern League for 22 years, while Rushall had a fine season after two mid table finishes, and were ultimately edged out by Jason Cadden’s men in the Play Off semi final.
I asked Tony what his initial impressions of Leamington as a club were. ‘I hated you, because you beat us in the Play Offs! Guy Sanders scored past me! To be fair you were one of the first teams I had played against at that level that actually had fans. And I remember they were so loud! I genuinely remember being confused at how a club at that level could have so many people supporting them!!’
Despite being able to recall the vast majority of games he has been involved in, Tony’s memory of that season is a little hazy as he has forgotten that Rushall actually beat Leamington three games in. ‘Did we win? I know we didn’t lose because I remember talking to my Dad after the match and I was absolutely buzzing!’
It was evident from his days in charge of Rushall that Paul Holleran liked to build his teams on a solid defensive base, as has been the case at Leamington down the years, and Tony went from being in a Solihull side that conceded 84 goals to a Rushall team that let in just 23 – the best defence in the league in that 07/08 campaign. I put it to him that those two or three seasons must have played a big part in his development as a player, and was probably where he developed his fondness for clean sheets?
‘Rushall was a great grounding for me, it was brilliant. I was the baby of the side – there were only two or three young lads – the rest were older, experienced players.
‘To be honest it was amazing. The dressing room was hysterical every time we were in there. Bealey (Richard Beale), Lee Barrow, Nick Preston, Grant Beckett had all played hundreds of games, and it got me into what Non League football was all about. I loved it there! They were so immature it was brilliant! To be a young lad in the thick of it all was fantastic. And getting a bollocking when I messed up has helped make me what I am today, so I owe that dressing room a hell of a lot.’
‘I learnt so much under Mark Gayle (Goalkeeping coach who later followed Hollers and Tony to Leamington for a time), he was brilliant for me. Such a good goalkeeping coach but just on my level and knew how to push me to my limits and get the best out of me. At Rushall I used to have maybe six or seven games where I never used to use my hands, the lads in front of me were that good!’
I ask Tony what the origins are behind Hollers’ old nickname ‘Oogie’, as he seems to be called that by most players who have turned out for him before he arrived at Leamington?
“I have no idea! I just call him it because everyone else did!!’
Having narrowly missed out in the play offs Rushall then found themselves shifted into the Northern Premier League the following season – a league which is always described as being tougher and more difficult to get out of than the Southern League. Tony doesn’t subscribe to that theory however, saying ‘It was probably better overall as the teams were more balanced, but the better Southern League teams would have wiped the floor with the better Northern Premier sides.’
It was clear early on that Hollers and Tony developed a good working relationship in the game, born out by the fact that Breeden followed his Rushall gaffer to Sutton and then quickly to Leamington. ‘Yeah, it was good playing for Paul. I knew I was going to play even though I was making a few mistakes. I was only a young lad but having the knowledge that I was going to play was healthy in helping me to progress. He showed a lot of loyalty towards me early on before Leamington, and I think I repaid him later on in my career. Plus, nobody else wanted me! I was something of an unknown in that respect back then, nobody had really heard of me.’
Hollers obviously had an initial plan in his mind when he was handed the Leamington job, as along with Richard Beale and experienced defender Gary Knight he quickly snapped Breeden up to join the cause. Scott Lycett, Richard Batchelor and Peter Faulds quickly followed, along with Matt Lewis.
‘Yeah, he called me straight away and did a deal with Sutton where we both were before, and he signed me for the away game at Cambridge.’
It is a game he remembers well. ‘I remember going down to scoop a ball and it kicked up and hit me in the neck and I made a good second save. It was 2-2, Corbs and Bello scored for us.
‘I made another good save low down. I did well, I think. It was good. I also remember my first home game. I smashed the ball into the striker’s face and we lost 1-0.’ (This was the infamous game at home to Bashley where Breeden’s clearance hit Mark Gamble in the face and rolled into the net. I seem to remember it being shown on Soccer AM!)
I ask what the dressing room was like at that time, given what had gone on prior to his arrival? ‘It was a bit split to begin with but after a month or two it was sound. As I said before, the dressing rooms with Paul are always a good place – that’s the first thing he always makes sure is bang on. The experienced boys just kind of laughed at the younger ones, which always works out well!’
I attempt to eek out any amusing stories from Tony’s first full season at the club, as Paul Holleran began to bring in the likes of Liam Daly, Jamie Hood, Stephan Morley and Jacob Blyth, some of whom would be mainstays in the Brakes side for many seasons. ‘There’s probably too many to even begin to tell to be honest!’, he laughs. ‘I could tell you one from every training session!!’
Breeden played 50 games in 2010/11 as Leamington made the Play Offs in Holleran’s first season in charge, losing out to Hednesford in the Semi Finals. The following season we made something of an indifferent start, but there was a shock to come as both Breeden and Daly were released after a disappointing defeat at old foes Romulus in the FA Trophy. At the time the reasons released were a little sketchy, and Tony admits that even now he is still in the dark as to why it happened. ‘To be honest I have no clue. Me and Daly had an argument with Lee Downes, who was the captain at the time, and Paul took his side, which was fine. And got rid of both me and Daly, which was a big shock. I didn’t see it coming at all.’
‘I got on alright with Lee but he just spoke down to me and I stood my ground, then because he was captain I got released. It was strange, and I think Holleran wanted to get rid of me and that was the final straw I assume, which as I said is fine by me.’
Looking back, 2011/12 was maybe a transitional season in the manager’s reign, as Hollers experimented with different players, the team showed indifferent form at times, going 12 games without a win before finishing the season with an unbeaten streak for the same number of games, which would provide the platform to go on and win the league the following season. Downes himself was on his way out later in the season; while Daly returned to the club 16 games after he departed, but there was never any chance that Tony would return at that time as fate had dealt him a good hand, Steve Burr snapping him up for Conference side Kidderminster Harriers, where he played 28 times in Non League’s top division as the Worcestershire side finished 6th. This was the season in which Fleetwood Town won the title with a certain Jamie Vardy firing in the goals. I ask Tony whether he recalls coming up against the striker who went on to lift the Premier League title and play for England, along with how he felt he adapted to the step up in class.
‘To be fair the jump was huge, but I feel I stepped up and did well. I should have stayed at Kiddy really but the manager stayed loyal to Danny Lewis, who ended up having a lot of injuries and dips in form the following season which saw Nathan Vaughan get a lot of playing time.’ (Ironically Vaughan had finished the previous season at Leamington, but was snapped up by Kidderminster late in pre season 2012. Strange how the fortunes of these two clubs continue to intertwine…)
‘We did well after I signed (for Kiddy), had a blip then went on a good run to the end of the season, but missed out on the last day against Mansfield.
‘Jamie Vardy was quiet the day I played against him. Fleetwood beat us 2-0 but he should have been sent off for two footing our left back!’
I put it to Tony that Nathan Vaughan was quite similar to him in many ways, in that he was the type of ‘keeper you would love to give stick if he was playing for the opposition (as we did when he was at Evesham), but you loved him if he was on your side. ‘Yeah, he was brilliant to be fair. Should have played a lot higher!’
Tony moved on to Tamworth in the summer of 2012, still in the Conference, and played the vast majority of the following season for The Lambs, first under Marcus Law and then Dale Belford. He has mixed memories of playing for both. ‘Marcus was brilliant until we lost a few, then he went from everyone playing and loving him to the complete opposite – every single player hated him! As for Dale I hated playing for him. I had the number 1 shirt and was playing well – I got man of the match in 3 out of 5 games and he dropped me and tried to get his son in on loan from Bury, but they put a block on it, so he had to get a loan from elsewhere, He put me straight back in but was a nightmare to play for.
‘It’s all water under the bridge with Marcus now but at the time I felt I was in the form of my life with him and Dale Belford, and on both occasions it ended up being a shit time! I could have gone one of two ways in the game – up or down. In my eyes I should have gone up and they held me back, which I’ll never forget. Having said that, I’m not too disappointed with how my life in and away from football has turned out.’
In the close season of 2013, Paul Holleran and Leamington came calling again, and it wasn’t a difficult decision for Breeden to make despite receiving offers from elsewhere:
‘Yeah, it was easy enough. I’d had a few offers but having played for Leamington before and knowing how Holleran worked it was a no brainer for me and I’m chuffed that I went back. I loved it at Leamington.’
His understudy in that season was Lewis Fenney, someone Tony credits with being ‘One of the funniest people I’ve ever met! He’s brilliant, I loved working with him!’
We talk about memorable games from that first season in the Conference North, and agree that although it was effectively a meaningless fixture, the 3-3 draw away at Gloucester in which Brakes clawed back a two goal deficit to level at the death was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. ‘Yeah, even though the Gloucester game didn’t matter much, it was brilliant. I remember their bench being baffled when we all went mad with the equaliser!’
That season was a tale of two strikers – Stefan Moore was banging in the goals before being lured to Brackley Town – ‘It’s not my place to say what they paid him but he wouldn’t have gone for three figures!!’ – while Danny Newton came in the opposite direction and was set on the path to the Football League as he went on to score 31 goals in 60 games for Brakes before hitting a similar ratio at Tamworth to earn a move to Stevenage in League 2.
‘Newts was class. He started off a bit slowly but once he got going he was a beast! As for Stefan, he was amazing!’
Pressed on what he would consider to be the biggest mistake he has made in his career, either in decision making or playing terms, Tony laughs when I remind him of the time he and James Mace ran into each other at Vauxhall Motors, leaving striker Steven Tames with an empty net to run the ball in to. ‘Yeah, that was bad! I’ve made a few to be fair haven’t I, haha. Erm…….. I went out on a Friday night before a game and ended up at a party, God knows where, and the following day I walked outside to find Holleran in the car swearing his head off at me! He released me before the game and I then saved a penalty, got man of the match and we won 4-0, so he kept me!!’ It turns out this game wasn’t at Leamington, but ‘at Rushall, in the early days. The same season I kept 32 clean sheets!! I think it may have been against Malvern at home, someone like that.’
On the subject of his maverick playing style, Tony says ‘I’ve never been afraid to make a mistake, and that shows in the way that I play. I enjoy playing this way, so I will continue to do so!’ I do point out to him that the consensus among Brakes fans has always been that he won us far more points than he lost.
Possibly not the most popular player to turn out in Brakes colours………
I ask him about Paul McCone, a controversial figure from the beginning of that 2013/14 campaign, and his initial answer tells me all I need to know about the player who signed for Leamington from Stourbridge, who had been one of our title challengers the previous season, and was alleged to have made a bit of an arse of himself in the dressing room with his attitude.
‘What a bellend. He was a wanker! I remember in his first game he turned round after giving the ball away to the striker, who nearly scored, saying all sorts to me as if I should have magically helped him not to do it.’
It turns out there was a reason for his swift departure from the club after just 11 games, too. ‘I had given him a bit of a telling off after he had given a goal away, and he deliberately passed the ball back to me on my right foot and said ‘Deal with that, you c**t!’ All the lads heard it, and that was his last game!’ We jokingly agree that it must have been a Stourbridge thing, before I mention that Stef Moore’s goal against Hednesford later in the season (in which McCone’s loose clearance set him up perfectly) must have gone down well in the dressing room?! ‘Yeah too right it did, haha!’
Tony was to leave Leamington for a second time in the summer of 2014, along with Liam Daly, for Solihull Moors, a move that effectively ripped the heart out of the Brakes squad. We all know what happened next, and I ask Breeden if he would have stayed at the NWG had the Moors not come calling?
‘Yeah, I would have, but they offered me so much money and doubled my wages so I couldn’t say no. I loved it at Leamington but Solihull was something like 12 minutes from my doorstep and they were going for the league, so it was something I couldn’t say no to as I still had aspirations to climb the football ladder at that time.’
And what was it like working for Marcus Bignot?
‘He was the best coach I’ve played under. His sessions were so detailed and precise but he just couldn’t get us to win that season! Management wise he was okay, you get used to having a pint and a chat with the manager and what not at Leamington but at Solihull he just kept us at arms length, which is fine, and as I say he was so intelligent with everything to do with football.
‘He kept us guessing with the team and whatnot. For me, being used to knowing I’m playing and who’s in front of me, it was a hard change but it set me up for the rest of my career and opened my eyes to the fact that not every manager or team does things the same way. So in a nutshell he was good, yeah!’
Many Moors fans have made no secret of the fact that they did not rate Tony in his solitary season there, something he does not have an issue with. Nevertheless, he admits it was not a difficult decision to return to Leamington at the end of that campaign.
‘I’ve got no problem with that. We were all crap that year, me included.
‘It was the easiest decision I’ve ever made to sign for Leamington again. I kept in touch with Paul that season, and it came up in conversation before the season’s end so I knew I was going to come back.’
The 2015/16 was a strange one, as Brakes dropped back into the Southern League after two years. There were some pretty dire games, the 0-0’s at home to Bedworth and Weymouth spring to mind, but with the benefit of hindsight there were actually far more high points. Tony has far better memories than we do, and agrees that the arrival of Courtney Baker-Richardson and Sam Austin was the turning point in mid February after a run of 5 defeats from 7 in the league looked to have put paid to any hopes of an instant return to the Conference North.
‘I personally thought it was a great season. Yeah we were inconsistent but we had a lot of new/young players. It was a shame we never won that play off final but to win it at home the following year was amazing.
‘Courtney was brilliant for me, and Sam Austin never got tackled the whole time he was here did he!?!’
It was a particularly memorable season for Breeden as he kept 24 clean sheets, scored one goal (Against Bedworth in the Senior Cup from the penalty spot), won us a dramatic penalty shoot out in the Play Off Semi Final at Redditch, amongst other things. He had actually scored his first goal for us some 4 years previous, in a thrilling 3-2 victory over Chesham United. A free kick from his own penalty area embarrassing former AFC Wimbledon stopper Shane Gore at the other end, who seemed to misjudge the flight of the ball and carried it over the line. Unfortunately there were no cameras present at our games that season, so you will just have to take our word for it. And Tony’s.
‘Ha ha.I smashed it forward too far and it went in. Great finish! Literally smashed it over everyone by a good 20 yards and it just flew over the goalkeeper, who clawed it out but it had already crossed the line.’
Remembered by those who were there as one of the most exciting games ever seen at the New Windmill Ground – it had everything. Breeden’s goal put Leamington ahead, Chesham, also chasing the play offs, levelled things up four minutes into the second half, the ball being put into the net after a penalty had struck the post. They were then awarded another penalty. It was a double whammy for Leamington as Lee Downes, who the ball had struck, protested a little too vehemently, and was sent off. The same player took the spot kick and hit the post again, but in the same passage of play, the ball was not properly cleared and Chesham were awarded a third penalty inside ten minutes, which they actually managed to score, with a different taker.
Hollers threw on Jacob Blyth, Richard Batchelor and Alex Taylor, and it was Blyth who forced the equaliser with 14 minutes to play when his ball back from the touchline was put into the net by a Chesham defender. Blyth then capped a memorable afternoon with a towering header from Steph Morley’s cross that almost took the roof off the Harbury Lane End, to win the game for Leamington.
Jacob Blyth celebrates scoring the winner in the 3-2 thriller against Chesham in 2011 in front of the Harbury Lane End
‘I remember that game so well. Jacob looped a header over their keeper at the back post to win it. So good! My favourite game is the Redditch (play off) one though. From Courts’ goal to the penalty shoot out it was brilliant. It was funny, because their manager (Liam McDonald) said if it went to extra time, they were the fittest team in the league, so they would wipe the floor with us!’
After the euphoria of that dramatic win the final must have been a bit of an anti climax?
‘Yes, it was, but we just didn’t play the pitch in the second half and on the day the better team won. We never really got going, which was the biggest frustration, along with the horrendous pitch.’
They say things happen for a reason, and that has certainly something that has rung true in Leamington’s recent history. If we’d won that play off against Hungerford we wouldn’t have experienced the utter joy of winning promotion via the same means on our own turf the following season against Hitchin.
Brakes made a decent start, beating Cirencester, Kettering, Hayes & Yeading and Merthyr in their opening four games. I take the opportunity to get Tony’s thoughts on his bizarre relationship with the Kettering fans, as he always seemed to cop a load of stick from them. I wondered if it went back further than his time with us? ‘I have no clue. They just started abusing me but giving me backhanded compliments with it. It was so weird! I remember one bloke saying some absolutely horrendous stuff about my kids (Who I didn’t even have at the time). He then added ‘I’ll give you credit though, you’re a legend and the best ‘keeper in the league..!!’ Strange bunch!’
Hollers had added quality to his squad by bringing in Darren Pond, Rob Thompson-Brown, Ahmed Obeng and Ryan Rowe, and Tony agrees that these players helped us to kick on, although we came second to a very good Chippenham Town side who were worthy Champions. ‘Yeah, 100%. We got through pretty much on togetherness the previous season. The quality they all brought in was huge and as you say, helped us take the next step and actually win the play offs. Chippenham were just too good to be honest. We couldn’t argue with them winning the league.’
There are no surprises at his standout moments from that campaign – ‘The play off games alongside the Wolves match. There weren’t any real moments where they stood out in the way that we thought ‘this is it.’ As I said, we came back in pre pre-season and just had a belief.’
Surprisingly, Tony doesn’t think his stunning save in the dying embers of the play off final was that good, but thinks that the one in the semi final against Slough was one of his best ever. ‘Yeah, the Slough one was. Then I made the one against Hitchin, which doesn’t look as good but it got deflected. Of course, the circumstances put them up there with the best I have made.’
From the fans perspective and watching it back on video, I think the Hitchin one is more special, because if that goes in, who knows what would have happened? You can see by the reaction of the crowd and the Hitchin bench that they think it’s in, and their disbelief when they realise it isn’t is priceless, for Brakes fans at least!
With the club back at Step 2, Paul Holleran bought in the likes of Junior English and Joe Clarke, experienced players at the level, while also signing exciting youngsters like Liam Canavan, Colby Bishop, and later Kieran Dunbar, who made a big impact on his debut as the team halted a five match losing streak with a memorable win at FC United of Manchester.
‘We signed some good players that year. The frustrating one was Canavan. He’s a brilliant player, he just didn’t quite have the hunger to push on. All the other boys did really well for us. Kieran is brilliant and he doesn’t stop running, and as for Colby there aren’t enough words to describe how good he is.’
Having been at the club to see them all, Tony rates Colby Bishop as the best striker the club have had that has gone on to play in the Football League. ‘Technically he’s brilliant. If he had a bit more pace imagine the player he’d be!’
As we took it to the penultimate game of the season to secure National League North safety in 2017/18 I ask Breeden what Hollers did to keep the players motivated in what was such a tough league, and whether they had the belief from Day 1 that they could prove themselves good enough to stay in the league. ‘He didn’t need to really. Going to some of the grounds we played at was motivation enough.
‘The dressing room is always together with Holleran – that’s what he bases his teams on and when it’s like that you’re motivated enough to play for each other.’
He concurs that it was still a relief to get over the line at Bootham Crescent though, as throughout the afternoon every possible outcome was thrown up, until Matty Dodd glanced home Canavan’s fantastic cross to dash York City’s play off hopes and keep Leamington in the division.
‘Yeah, that was a good day. It was strange because everyone felt we were gonna get the equalizer. Before the game we were confident and I think we deserved a point at least.’
I ask Tony whether he felt any pressure as he stepped up to take that penalty three minutes from the end of the game against Chorley two days beforehand. Surely it must have crossed his mind that if he hit the frame of the goal, or it was saved, he had an awful long way to run back to his goal? Or did he just block those kind of thoughts out?
‘Nah not really. I was confident I was going to score every one for Leamington.
God knows what’s happened since!!’ I mistakenly thought that the next penalty Tony took was the infamous one at Liberty Way for Nuneaton against Stratford Town, where he blazed the ball high over the bar into the terrace, where it hit a light so hard it fell down, almost hitting Jamie Hood’s young son in the process. It turns out he also missed one for Bromsgrove against Hednesford prior to the Nuneaton one, which of course went viral. We all felt bad for him as we had been lucky enough to experience his real spot kick taking and saving skills, but it appears those powers may have deserted him since leaving Leamington. I forgot to ask whether he would ever step up to take a penalty again, given the chance.
Tony’s last season at the club was another good one, as we overcame second season syndrome and finished closer to mid table than the dreaded drop zone, and won the Birmingham Senior Cup for the second time in three years. The only downside was that the last thing he did as a Leamington player was to drop the lid of the cup on his head!
‘Yeah, that cup hurt!’
‘It was a good season. That league is relentless. Bar maybe one or two teams the rest are very very good, so to stay up is an achievement in itself.’
Tony began the 2019/20 season in the Southern League Premier Division with newly promoted Bromsgrove Sporting, who pulled off something of a coup to sign him. ‘Brendan Kelly, the manager there, is a mate of mine. I had offers to stay in the National League North but Bromsgrove are a big club, and how he wanted to go about things there just worked, so it was an easy decision to join them. The lads were brilliant there and the whole club was great. We did ok without pulling up any trees, until I left that is!
He then made a surprising mid season switch to Nuneaton Borough, where he linked up again with former Brakes team mate Jamie Hood and other former Leamington men Jamie Towers, Jordan Goddard and Callum Powell. I ask him what it has been like to play for Jimmy Ginnelly. ‘It’s been really good, he’s a sound bloke. Says it how it is and is pretty old school which I’m used to, so he worked for me, and I’ve really enjoyed it there.
Hoody’s been the best defender I’ve ever played with and also one of my best friends in football so to be playing with him again is a pleasure.’
Does Tony see himself playing on into his 40’s? And how does he see his career playing out from the current void we find ourselves in? ‘I’d love to, but if my kids start playing before that then I’ll knock it on the head, but if not I’m playing until I can’t walk.
As for where it’s gonna take me, I’d like to stay at Nuneaton but if not we shall see…..’
And does he see himself moving into coaching or management in the future? ‘I’d like to coach in the future, definitely. Not for a few years but definitely when I’m looking towards not playing anymore, that’s the route I’m gonna pursue.’
I ask whether there is such a thing as a Goalkeeper’s Union in Non League Football, and which other goalkeepers that he’s come up against does he rate? ‘Yeah definitely, ha ha! For me it’s the Stockport keeper (Ben Hinchcliffe), he’s class. And after him, James Wren at Stourbridge. I was with him at Tamworth when he was younger. He was good then but now he’s ironed out the mistakes he’s brilliant.
I also have to add Nathan Vaughan to that list for the way he played – he was just an all round brilliant goalkeeper.’
One last thing I do is test Tony’s knowledge of his 341 games for Leamington by asking him to list ten of his favourite that he was involved in for us.
Chesham (H) – When he scored his first goal for us
Redditch play off semi final
Wolves BSC Final
The 3-3 draw with Gloucester City at Cheltenham
The win at Salford City
2-1 home win over Stockport in 2014
His debut at Cambridge City – 14/11/09
Spennymoor (H) in November 2017 – 4-0 win and 2 penalty saves
The play off final win over Hitchin
The Hungerford play off final (No, I didn’t understand that one either!)
And here ends this behemoth of an interview. I enjoyed finding out a bit more about our legendary former ‘keeper – hopefully those of you reading will have done too. He has provided us with some of the standout moments in our recent history, and will always be revered as one of the best players of the modern era at Leamington.
I discovered it when I was about 10. Leamington had a football team! Nobody had told me. It was the end of the sixties. At school it was all Coventry City, Birmingham or Villa. Or the most popular team then, Man Utd who my older brother supported. I had picked Liverpool but was excited to be told there was a local team and you could actually go and see them play. Leamington were in the Midlands County League when I started watching, before going into the Southern League Division 1 North in 1971-72. My first match was a pre-season friendly.
It’s 2pm and I’m off on my own. Out of the door in Ranelagh Street, past Flavells, turn left into Brunswick Street, up past the Jet and Whittle, right into Tachbrook Street up the hill and then left onto Tachbrook Road, past Windmill Road, looking out nervously in case any of the toughs are out looking for trouble, and finally the first view of the floodlights of the old Windmill Ground. I’ve been told the floodlights have come from Man City but I’m not sure if that’s true. Outside the ground a wooden notice advertises the Next Match with space to slip the name of the opponents into the board . Today it reads Northwich Victoria.
I clank through the turnstiles. To my right the Tea Hut and as I walk past the smell of burgers, onions and hot drinks wafts over me. I walk on and then get my first glimpse of the dazzling green pitch caught in the August sunlight. The Yellow corner flags gently blowing. Of course, everyone has seen grass before, but nobody forgets their first view of a properly prepared football pitch. I stand and breathe it all in.
Ahead of me stretches the Home “Cow Shed” end, a covered terrace consisting of 4 lower steps, a level middle path and another 4 higher steps. There is a small brick wall at the front a few feet from the pitch. I wander along past the goal net and walk up the steps to the back brick wall. A covering of corrugated rusting iron provides the roof. Looking back towards the entrance I see the small side terrace by the corner flag and behind that is the Social Club, hidden behind the Main Stand.
Walking through the covered end and turning the corner into another small terrace which gives way into the large shale pebbly bank of the Cemetary side. A rusty corrugated structure provides cover for a few yards either side of the half-way line. The extra height provides a decent view here and you can see the headstones behind the graveyard wall. There would be plenty of times when the ball sailed into the cemetery followed by the wait for someone to jump over the wall and retrieve it.
Walking on and turning at the far corner flag and I enter the Windmill end. This is just a small track with only room for 3 or 4 people deep. A handful of spectators lean against the front white barriers within touching distance of the pitch. Behind this narrow strip there had been an actual windmill. The sails had long gone but I remember the structure still standing in the late 60’s before it was demolished.
In the far corner of the ground are the dressing rooms, a nondescript block. And then running along the side of the pitch is the Main Stand. The Main Stand is the only seating in the ground, with about 8 wooden benches under cover with the dugouts in front. I walk towards it but am turned back by a chap who wants more money. It costs extra to sit there but maybe I can sneak in once the chap gives up looking – this works for many a night game in the future.
I watch the match from the small terrace by the corner flag between the Cemetary stand and the Home End. I do remember the strong smell of freshly mown grass overpowered by the stench of liniment when the players came near. I could reach out and touch the sweating shirts of the players as they took throw ins in front of me. I love it.
At half-time I approach the refreshment hut and look at the tatty cardboard menu sign. Tea, Coffee, Bovril & Oxo, and a small queue at the little hatch. I can’t afford a Wagon Wheel but maybe I’ll try a drink of Oxo – why not? A small polystyrene cup with an Oxo cube plonked into it and then topped up with hot water. Nothing to stir it with so I wait for the cube to dissolve. A good use of sixpence (old money). Ugh – disgusting – it was always tea from then on. I would learn to appreciate those hot drinks on many a cold midweek night in the years to come though.
I have no idea about the score that day. I seem to remember a David Taylor playing for us. And a goalie called Davy Jones. Some kids shouted about him “going to his locker“. They might not have been as funny as they thought. I liked the yellow and black kit and I liked that you could walk around and stand where you wanted. I seem to remember the crowds were around 300 back then. I was hooked. The season started and I became a regular. I remember early league games with Frickley Collier (became Athletic in 76) and Stafford Rangers. Eventually I convinced some school friends to come along and they became hooked as well.
Soon we discovered that the players coach allowed supporters. I’m not sure what the arrangement was but I’m certain we didn’t pay. I would put the away support at about 10 in those days. We had lots of local trips to the likes of Rugby, Bromsgrove, Banbury & Redditch. But also some long away trips. I remember Merthyr Tydfil, leaving on a boxing day morning about 6 am, and King’s Lynn on the players coach. We had regular games with teams that went on to reach the football league – Kidderminster, Cheltenham, Burton Albion & Stevenage. Oh and I remember Barnet coming to the Windmill with a certain Jimmy Greaves up front. I can also remember running onto the pitch at the end of a game and patting Terry Hennessey, the ex Welsh international, on his bald head. It was horrible and sweaty but I only have myself to blame. About the time a certain Harry Redknapp played for us 3 times in 1976. Whatever happened to him?
The Windmill ground was such an exciting place for a 10 year old though. And a place to fall in love with the joy of going to live matches which has never left me. The best times were the FA Cup runs of the seventies. But that’s another story.
Those were the days. The magic of the FA Cup and all that. The two live football games we got back then were from Wembley for the final and the England v Scotland Home International the week after. I fell in love on the 18th September 1971. I had to look that up to be fair. It was the 1st qualifying round at home to Stourbridge. I remember the bright Yellowy Gold of the home kits and the Red & White stripes of the away side. It wasn’t going well. First half attacking the home covered end but losing 0-1. Second half and Brakes pushing for an equaliser. We are stood in the tiny Windmill end, 3 deep, willing them to score and stay in the Cup. Barry Whitlock scores twice in the last few minutes for a 2-1 win and I celebrated as much as I have ever done since. The Cup run wasn’t to last as the 2nd Round brought the disappointment of a 0-2 defeat at home to Highgate United. Nonetheless I was hooked on the Cup. The same tournament I had watched the finals on the telly but I now realised you could actually go and watch the competition close up.
I couldn’t wait for the draw each year and the fixtures to come around. This was the FA Cup in the Autumn of course, 4 qualifying rounds before the prospect of drawing a league club in the 1st round proper. Next season brought a 4-1 thrashing at Nuneaton who were a top side with big support. The following year more disappointment with a defeat 0-1 at Bedworth – Bed’uth to the locals.
Then 74-75. A 3-1 win at Dudley in the 1st round qualifier. Followed by a 3-1 win at home to Lye. The first FA cup win I’d seen since 1971. Excitement growing in the town. Well at least in my house. Next round and Worcester City beaten at home 2-1. Then Corby came down to the Windmill for the 4th qualifying round and the heady possibility of reaching the 1st Round proper when the league clubs came in. You know, the teams on the pools coupons, the names familiar from James Alexander Gordon reading the results on BBC every Saturday. Such a prospect. Corby Town always brought a gang of fans – ex miners and their sons who came down from Scotland for work. The only “mob” we saw in those early days of football hooliganism. Some Leamington toughs came to the gates calling us over to ask how many were down from Corby and was it worth them coming in to have a go at them. We said too many – don’t bother! A 1-0 win and such joy. The first ever time for the club in the main draw.
We were through. On Monday we saw the draw in the Coventry Evening Telegraph on the way home from school – Southend United at home. Yes. We’ve heard of them. A mid table 3rd division side so we knew it would be hard. I seem to remember an attendance figure of 2,400. The home end was packed and a great atmosphere with us locals swamped by what seemed to be every football fan in Leamington. A close game but we lost 1-2 after giving them a great battle. I remember the pressure in the second half and feeling it was an unlucky defeat. But it gave us such a taste for the competition. There were actually 4 current Premier League teams in that first round. Bournemouth, Brighton, Crystal Palace and Watford.
The following year 1975-76 saw another good FA Cup run. We started with a win away to Irthlingborough Diamonds 2-1 and then beat Aylesbury United 3-1 at the Windmill. We then went to Milton Keynes City in the 3rd qualifying round and won 1-0. I certainly don’t remember that team but they used to be Bletchley Town. I do remember going to an away game at Dunstable who had once signed George Best, who I don’t think ever managed to play a game. Next round we beat Tividale 3-2 at the Windmill to once again reach the 1st round proper. The draw was disappointing though being at home to Stafford Rangers. An exciting game ended with a 2-3 defeat
The next year was forgettable with a 2-0 win at home to Rothwell following a 0-0 away and then after drawing 1-1 at home to Bromsgrove we lost the replay 1-2. We were used to good Cup runs at this time so it was all disappointing. Never mind – the best was saved for 1977-78.
We started with a home game against Tividale again and beat them 3-1. They had been the subject of a well known Sports book the previous season which started with them and then followed the winners of each subsequent game all the way to the Man Utd v Liverpool final. I think it was called From Tividale to Wembley. We had beaten them the year before and the year after their claim to fame!
We travelled to Dudley in the 2nd qualifying round and won 2-0 to set us up for a trip to our rivals Kidderminster Harriers in the next round. We won there 2-1 and were rewarded with a trip to Boston United in the 4th round with a chance to reach the serious stages again. Another 2-1 win and we awaited the draw on the following Monday. What a disappointment. At home was good but Enderby Town was not the glamour tie we dreamt off. Never mind we were in the main competition and we ended up thrashing them 6-1 to reach the 2nd round for the first ever time. The draw was reported on Monday. We stopped at the newsagents on the way home from school to read the paper. Please give us a league team again. We were reminiscing about the cracking Southend game. We grabbed the paper. The draw was in the stop press down the side of the back page. AP Leamington v Southend. What? Again? That can’t be right! So for the second time in our history we were drawn against a league club. But it was the same club as last time. Never mind. This time it was in the 2nd Round so a win would put us in with the top teams in the country.
Another bumper crowd at the Windmill including a fair few up from Southend packed into the Windmill end. I don’t think we could swap ends at half-time for that one. A tight game which ended in a 0-0 draw. So a trip down to the coast for a midweek replay but not, of course, before the always anticipated FA Cup 3rd round draw on a Monday lunchtime. Forget the Coventry Evening Telegraph stop press, this was live on Radio 2. We gathered around a transistor radio in the school toilets to listen. The first and only cup draw to include both Liverpool and Leamington. My big team were away to Chelsea – but come on Brakes give us a good one. Then it came. Derby County (on their way to being Champions that year) will be at home to Southend United or AP Leamington. Wow. The next day the papers reported Tommy Dochery (their manager) as saying “AP Leamington – never heard of them – what are they Italian?” What a prospect. The Brakes at the Baseball Ground against the team heading to be English champions. Alas, Southend didn’t want to play ball. A 4-0 defeat down there and the dreams were dashed.
We certainly had the taste for this FA Cup lark by now. In 78-79 we actually received a bye to the 4th qualifying round. A disappointing 0-0 at home to Hednesford but a great 3-2 win in the reply and we were through to another 1st round proper. All week the talk was “I bet we get Southend again”. But no. It was a trip south to Dartford of the Southern League so at least a chance to progress. I didn’t go to Dartford as I was away at University and watching more Division One games by then. The final score came through and we had won 2-1 to reach the 2nd round again. No internet or radio coverage so waited until the next day’s newspaper to see who we had drawn. Torquay, a mid-table 4th Division side, were coming to the Windmill. A league club at home is all you could ask for. I was there on a cold December day in 1978 but we lost out 0-1 to send Torquay through to the 3rd Round and a trip to Newcastle and a defeat at St James’ Park.
After successive seasons reaching Round 2 proper we couldn’t wait for another campaign. The 1979-80 season and again we had a bye to the 4th qualifying round which certainly helped a good cup run. We were away to Boston but not the Boston United who we had visited 2 years before who were playing at home to Nuneaton on the same day. Boston, who became Boston Town later, were the opponents as the town in Lincolnshire hosted 2 sets of supporters from Warwickshire. We drew 0-0 forcing a replay which we won 1-0 at the Windmill to reach the 1st round proper yet again. The 3rd year in a row!
The draw was kind, sending us to Merseyside to face Tranmere who were mid-table in Division 4. It was November 1979. I didn’t travel to this although I have heard a few stories over the years. My memory is of waiting for the final score on Grandstand and I’m sure it was David Coleman doing the teleprinter. He actually said “and a shock in the Cup at Tranmere”. I stood up ready to punch the air in delight. “Tranmere 9 AP Leamington 0”. Does anyone else remember that? How many at that game were also in Colchester in 2005 to see another 9 goal hammering? At least we got a consolation goal that day in Essex which I remember being celebrated enthusiastically to say the least as noted later that evening by Gary Lineker on Match of the Day!
The following two seasons were grim with a 0-1 home defeat to Barton Rovers followed by a 3-0 loss at Stafford Rangers the next year. By 1982-83 we were back to the 1st qualifying round and had a bit of a run winning 4-0 at Coventry Sporting and then beating Bridgnorth Town 6-1 at the Windmill. The 3rd round resulted in a 2-0 victory against Stourbridge in a replay after drawing 1-1 away to reach the 4th qualifying round again and another shot at the big time. This time a trip to Kettering but a 3-1 defeat ended our hopes.
The 1983-84 season brought the last successful cup run for AP Leamington. Another tie with Tividale brought a 5-0 win away before a 4-4 draw at Lye Town was followed by a 4-0 victory in the Windmill replay. The 3rd round brought a 2-2 draw at another old cup foe in Corby before a 3-0 win in the replay. Another shot at the big time and a 3-0 success at home to Wellingborough Town and we were in the draw for the 1st round proper again. For the 4th time a league team visited the Windmill with Southend (twice), Torquay and now Gillingham. What a match. 2,500 fans packed in to watch a great performance from the Brakes. I remember so much pressure being put on the Gillingham goal but the 3rd division side hung on to a fortunate 0-1 win. I remember how good Kim Casey was that day and how unlucky we had been. Gillingham actually drew at Everton in the 4th round that year before finally losing after 3 games.
But then the following year it happened. We finally managed to do it. Our dreams came true. Leamington were finally going to Wembley! The 1st qualifying round of 84-85 and a 3-1 defeat at Wembley. The club from the Isthmian League. I wonder how many made that trip from Leamington?
That was the end of the FA Cup story for AP but Leamington did feature for another 3 years. They lost at Stevenage Borough 2-1 in the preliminary round in 1985 and 2-1 against the mighty Wigston Fields in 1986. The last Cup victory of this era was at home to Coventry Sporting 2-1 in 1987-88 in the 1st qualifying round before losing 0-6 when Worcester came to visit in the next round.
I had moved on from watching Leamington by then. I attended the Cup finals of 1988 seeing Wimbledon beat Liverpool and was there again in 1989 after Hillsborough when Liverpool beat Everton. I’ve been to plenty of FA Cup ties including finals ever since but when anyone mentions the competition I can always recall a certain Barry Whitlock scoring 2 late goals to beat Stourbridge in 1971. It still brings a smile to my face.
Of course Lockheed Leamington had history in the FA Cup well before my time with a few trips to the 4th qualifying round. There was a game in 1963-64 which ended in a defeat to Corby (again) after a replay. Another 4th qualifying round in 1960-61 resulted in the Brakes losing 2-1 to Hereford Utd. I wonder if they ever did anything in the FA cup? There was a strange one in 1956-57 (well before my time). In the 2nd qualifying round at Atherstone we lost 4-0 but a replay was ordered!! I have no idea why. Any help? We won the replay 2-1 and again got to the 4th round before Hereford beat us again 1-4. That was as close as we got to the big time in those days. One last match I stumbled across in my research was In 1954-55 when we had what sounded like a terrific game in the 1st qualifying round. Lockheed Leamington 4 Moor Green 5. I wonder if anyone remembers that?
Continuing a retrospective look back at all fixtures played by the first team since the last paper version of the fanzine……
2016 was more like a Brakes calendar year. The proverbial rollercoaster, with highs usually outweighing the lows, which is more like what we are used to. It didn’t start brilliantly, but got better as it went on…..
Chippenham Town (A) – 09/01/16 – Lost 3-4 – Att: 395
Crappy weather had put paid to the first two fixtures of 2016, and it still wasn’t great as we travelled down to Chippenham, a place where we had seen a game called off in the past because of torrential rain after we had arrived…… the groundsman’s forks were locked in a shed which nobody had a key for.
Two goals just before half time from Andy Sandell and Alan Griffin put the home side in control, but two second half substitutions helped Brakes drag themselves level, Jack Edwards with a thumping header and Ben Mackey low turn and shot into the bottom corner, but goals from Alex Ferguson (no, not that one) and Griffin restored Chippenham’s two goal cushion. Jamie Tank looped in a header to give us late hope, but a fourth straight defeat saw us drop to 12th in the table.
Altrincham (H) – FA Trophy 1st Round – 16/01/16 – Lost 1-2 – Att: 332
After several postponements due to shitty weather and (northern) people whining about sand on the pitch, this game finally got played and despite their recent troubles it was one Brakes could easily have won. Things got off to a bad start with Michael Rankine converting a soft looking penalty decision to give the Conference side the lead, but throughout the game the two division gap looked anything but, and the pressure told in the last minute when Ben Mackey headed home from close range. He should have won it soon afterwards, but swept a close range shot over the bar, and Alty won it in extra time with a rocket from Rankine.
Bideford (A) – 23/01/16 – Drew 1-1 – Att: 191
A trip to Bideford will always hold good memories for us after winning the Southern League there back in 2013, but a damp Saturday in January didn’t have quite the same feel to it. Lee Chilton equalised an early goal for the hosts and Jack Edwards probably should have won it late on, but the four game losing streak in the league was halted.
Frome Town (H) – 30/01/16 – Won 2-0 – Att: 405
The first win of the year finally arrived but not before Darren Chitty, who always seems to have a good game against us, had frustrated Brakes for long periods with some great saves. Connor Gudger stunned everybody by producing a moment of magic to open the scoring, a sublime right footed curler into the top corner, while Magic Mackey scored a classic Mackey goal, out muscling a defender before a thumping low finish into the bottom corner.
Aylesbury United (A) – Red Insure Cup Round 3 – 03/02/16 – Lost 0-1 – Att: 113
‘Only’ the League Cup, I know, but even a Brakes side not at full strength should be beating a lower mid table side from the division below. Still, never mind.
Hitchin Town (H) – 13/02/16 – Lost 0-1 – Att: 345
This defeat was probably the low point of the season before it started to get better, but it marked the debuts of two players who would have a big impact – Sam Austin and Courtney Baker-Richardson. We needed some attacking impetus more than ever after this showing – not one shot on target in the whole game. Hitchin have improved markedly over the last few seasons, and their winner was pretty special, but this was not a good performance from Brakes.
Hungerford Town (A) – 15/02/16 – Won 2-1 – Att: 137
There are few things better in football than a last minute winner, and this one, coming as it did after a long Monday night journey down to Hungerford in freezing conditions, was well worth the trip. Hungerford have been in and around the play off places ever since they were promoted in 2013, and after a first half in which Leamington had shown far more intent than in their previous game against Hitchin, the home side took the league with just over 25 minutes to go, and we feared the worst.
Step up Courtney Baker-Richardson. Slipped in by Ogleby for a neat finish under keeper Paul Strudley, who appeared somewhat bemused at the barracking he received from the travelling support about his car keys after a strange comment to one of his defenders, the goalkeeper then ventured off his line in injury time to try and claim a ball he had little chance of getting, and with the help of Ogleby getting in the keepers way, Baker-Richardson lifted a shot over him into the net, and a new hero was born.
Slough Town (A) – 20/02/16 – Won 3-1 – Att: 286
Another tricky away fixture, another morale boosting win. On a day when not too many games were played due to the inclement weather, this one survived although the pitch was pretty horrendous in places.
Leamington’s friend Paul Stonehouse put us ahead with a cheeky own goal on 14 minutes, turning the ball in from Ben Mackey’s cross. He must hate the sight of us at the moment, having been sent off for Oxford City when we beat them 4-0 last season.
Second half substitute Rob Ogleby capitalised on another error from Stonehouse to put Brakes back in front after Slough had levelled things up, beating keeper Mark Scott to a short back pass and rolling into an empty net, and Sam Austin wrapped things up in injury time when Ogleby played him in to round Scott for a third goal.
Dunstable Town (H) – 23/02/16 – Won 1-0 – Att: 275
Jack Edwards’ deflected strike with fifteen minutes to go won this to take us within touching distance of Saturday’s opponents King’s Lynn. And, erm, that’s about it really.
The noisy King’s Lynn hoards visited Leamington for the first time in many a year confidently belting out songs about promotion and such like. Their team were in the middle of a storming run which had seen them propel themselves right into contention, but everybody knows that you don’t do things like that because the Football Gods will ensure that you are left with egg on your face if you do. Which they did.
The away supporters certainly made more noise than they had done in the reverse fixture at their place, but such are the aesthetics at the NWG, when you are up in the car park terrace you very often don’t hear anything else if you are making a noise, it’s the same in the Harbury Lane End too.
The Linnets took the lead with an unstoppable shot in off the bar in the first half, but Ben Mackey forced in his 20th goal of the season in the second half to earn a share of the spoils.
Stratford Town (H) – 01/03/16 – Won 1-0 – Att: 434
Stratford Town. I thought we’d left clubs like them and Barwell behind when we won the Midland Alliance nearly ten years ago, but here we were, playing them for the first time in the Southern League. You have to give them credit for working their way up but this fixture is never going to have the local derby appeal of a game against Nuneaton, or even R***y T**n. They usually have a sprinkling of former Brakes players in their team though, and always try to raise their game against us, but it took just a single goal, Courtney Baker-Richardson’s first at home for us, to win this one, and give us a clear sight of the play off places once more, something which a few weeks earlier had looked as far away as ever.
Merthyr Town (A) – 05/03/16 – Won 2-0 – Att: 407
A tricky trip to our friends in South Wales was negotiated thanks to an early first half header from Jack Edwards, while Courtney Baker Richardson’s fine start to life at Leamington continued as he grabbed the second with just under 20 minutes to go, latching on to James Fry’s defence splitting pass to lob ‘keeper Glyn Garner. Looks like Marcus Law dropped a bit of a bollock allowing him to leave Kettering…..
Poole Town (H) – 12/03/16 – Won 1-0 – Att: 502
This was a satisfying win over the league leaders after the disappointing reverse at their place earlier in the season, Ben Mackey plundering the only goal of the game that saw Brakes close right in on their opponents. For a fantastic photo essay of the game by talented snapper David Bauckham, click here.
Dorchester Town (H) – 15/03/16 – Won 3-0 – Att: 312
This was the Sam Austin show, as the on loan Burton youngster put in a fantastic performance to help Brakes on their way to a sixth win in seven games as they continued their charge back towards the top six. He scored an early goal after the visitors had missed a gilt edged opportunity to go in front, and then added a second early in the second half, leathering the ball into the roof of the net after Dorchester keeper Murphy had punched a cross straight to him.
Austin almost scored an outrageous hat trick goal when played in down the left, thumping a volley in from just outside the box that Murphy spectacularly tipped over. The young man was not done however, and floated in a delightful ball from just inside the Dorchester half in to the path of Ben George, who did well to direct it first time into the net before being clattered by the on-rushing keeper.
Dorchester Town (A) – 19/03/16 – Won 1-0 – Att: 342
Brakes made their first visit to Dorchester since the mid 80’s, in which time the Magpies have moved stadiums. This one was apparently built by Tesco in 1990. They have a smart looking store right next to it with a water fountain at the entrance. I was looking forward to this game as it was a new ground, but it was a little disappointing if I’m honest. The Avenue Stadium is a decent enough ground, for sure, but it has already seen better days, despite being just over 25 years old. It just didn’t look like it had been looked after particularly well, which is a shame.
The game was always going to be tougher than the one in midweek, and so it proved, but Sam Austin was the matchwinner once more drilling in a low first time strike that flew into the bottom corner six minutes before half time after Lee Moore’s cross was only partially cleared.
The rest of the game looked set to pootle along without incident until James Mace reacted to a poor challenge by Gary Bowles. This sparked a mass melee involving all 22 players and both benches, which resulted in red cards for the perpetrators.
Temperatures rose a little further when Jamie Hood was stretchered off after another poor challenge, this time from Tom Smeeton. Brakes fans will know that Hoody doesn’t stay down unless he is injured, so they didn’t take kindly to the unsporting booing from a section of the sparse home support as Hood was carried off.
There was plenty of time added on at the end of this game after all that, and Leamington were left hanging on a bit, but had the last laugh as they saw the game out to take three more precious points. And a tray from the bar, which got a bit of a battering in the second half…
Chesham United (A) – 22/03/16 – Lost 0-3 – Att: 264
This was a bit of miserable midweek trip down to Buckinghamshire, to a ground we’ve been to Lord knows how many times, and put up with countless little urchins trying to act hard and throwing stuff at us among other things. As it had been a couple of years since our last visit we didn’t have to put up with any such rubbish this time, and were instead treated to some local druggie (observed in the toilets by one of our number before kick off), leading a group of young kids in a God awful chorus of that ‘Everywhere we go’ song. Which we of course childishly mimicked for the rest of the game. That was probably the highlight to be honest, as thanks to two decent goals from ex R*gby T*own man Sam Youngs inside the first fifteen minutes, this game was all but over by half time, and definitely over early in the second half when Dave Pearce (No, not that one) scored Chesham’s third.
It was difficult to be too hard on the lads because they’d been on such a great run prior to this game, and hadn’t conceded a goal for five games, but with ten games to go it was still a setback.
Another tough game against a team who have always been hard to beat, and were chasing the same target as we were. Richard Taundry unfortunately put through his own goal to give Chippenham the lead before half time.
The visitors had Andy Sandell in their ranks, who had dropped down from League Two Newport County and was unsurprisingly scoring plenty of goals. It was his shot that led to Alan Griffin scoring the visitors’ second goal just past the hour. Hollers had thrown on Callum Gittings for his debut after signing the midfielder on loan from Solihull Moors, but with Brakes chasing the game they received a boost when Sandell was sent off for a needless challenge on Tony Breeden over by the corner flag. Unfortunately he was quickly followed by Taundry, who received a second booking.
Jack Edwards had halved the deficit with a strike from the edge of the box prior to the first of the red cards, and dragged his side to a point with a great goal in the turn with two minutes remaining.
Stratford Town (A) – 28/03/16 – Won 1-0 – Att: 576
The Leamington hordes made the short trip over to tourist town for a Bank Holiday ‘derby’ which never feels like a derby, despite our proximity to Stratford. The hours before kick off were spent in the town centre, where Hickey got us all turfed out of Wetherspoons because he’d done something naughty in McDonalds apparently. We weren’t fussed though as we’d already eaten.
Once at the Tiddington petrol station Brakes fans proceeded to sticker the living daylights out of everything in sight. Perimeter fences, goalposts, stewards… The game wasn’t great – they never are, but debutant Danny Dubidat got off to a productive start, winning a penalty with almost his first touch on three minutes which gave Sam Austin the chance to score what turned out to be the winner. The rest of the day was spent moving between the many bars in Stratford town centre. A perfect day, some would say..
We weren’t to know at the time but this turned out to be a dress rehearsal of sorts for the play off semi finals, and perhaps gave an indication of what was to come in that game as both teams largely cancelled each other out. Callum Gittings was sent off to give Hollers another squad headache for the run in. There didn’t seem to be much in it but unfortunately it’s what we have come to expect this season.
Redditch certainly had more fans than usual at The Valley Stadium due to the fantastic season they were having. There were a couple of moments where things could have turned nasty but they were diffused in the usual manner by the Brakes support.
We laughed heartily at the attempts of Redditch chairman/owner Chris Swan to try and shift the pre match pressure onto Leamington in his programme notes by claiming that we were the favourites, despite them being higher in the league, and that our budget was bigger than theirs! Mr Swan didn’t exactly hide the fact that he has a few quid, rolling up in a red Ferrari and parking it virtually pitchside. Asking for trouble! Apparently he wasn’t best pleased when somebody decorated it with a sticker. And as for the budget thing, of course, Redditch must have had one of the lowest in the league to be able to bring in Paul Merson’s son Sam, who lived closer to London than Birmingham. It gave us all a laugh anyway.
Weymouth (A) – 05/04/16 – Lost 0-1 – Att: 591
Ugh. We’d made this journey on a Tuesday night just over 3 years earlier and had been treated to a glorious 4-0 win which took us to the top of the table. Long away journeys are certainly easier to stomach when you have won, and that one flew by. This one most certainly did not as Brakes went down to a solitary second half goal against one of the sides chasing the last play off place which we occupied. Not good. There nearly were more flags than fans there that night.
Those of us who travelled to the reverse fixture took some pleasure in seeing Paulton relegated at the end of this game after some of the antics of their players at their place. Danny Dubidat won an 11th minute penalty which was converted by Sam Austin, while Ben Mackey scored his 23rd of the season to seal it late on. You’re going down with the Bed’uth!!!
We had enjoyed an eventful clash with Kettering earlier in the season, but weren’t really sure what to expect when travelling to their Burton Latimer home. As we hadn’t crossed swords with them in the past we only had word of mouth and past reputation to go by, and neither were particularly complimentary, but to be fair there were no problems. Other than the car park being so small that practically everybody was blocked in. And the fact that how the hell does this ground reach the standard required to play in this league?! It’s a Sunday park league pitch with some crappy stands thrown up around it. Plenty of banter and a decent away following made for a good atmosphere though.
Liam Canavan is always going to be a figure of fun for opposition supporters anyway with his wacky Sideshow Bob haircut, but he forced in a Kettering opener completely against the run of play early on, and with them being one of the sides Brakes were desperately fending off to secure the final play off place, things were looking iffy for a period.
CBR being a former Kettering player meant he was getting pelters from the home fans, even more so when he won a penalty moments before half time which Sam Austin blasted home to bring us level. Poppies players and fans insisted it was outside the box. We didn’t care.
Another thing with Kettering is that it is difficult to understand how they can afford to employ players like Rene Howe when a little over 12 months ago they were apparently very close to going out of business and had the begging bowls out. Credit to them though, they’ve been on a storming run to even have a chance of getting into the play offs.
A toddle down the Fosse for the ‘derby’ at Ciren’s weird slopey pitch no terracing ground. I’d pigeon hole the Corinium Stadium with places like Stratford and Evesham – no disrespect to any of the clubs but they’re just soulless, with very few tools to create an atmosphere unless you have a ridiculous amount of fans there. Still, we did our best. Decent strikes from Jack and Courtney secured an important three points and ensured that we could spend the week observing what would play out between the other teams chasing play off places before we would discover what we needed to do to secure ours.
And so the regular part of this strangest of seasons drew to a close, perhaps fittingly, with a rather uneventful no score draw. It was all that was required for Brakes to slip into the play offs, while Hungerford were already there but had home advantage in the semi final to play for.
In the event the most entertaining part of this game was the final whistle and the running banter between us and Hungerford’s right back Gary Horgan, who seemed to quite enjoyed being called a ‘shit Hugh Jackman.’
Redditch United (A) – Play Off Semi Final – 27/04/16 – Drew 1-1 aet, Leamington win 3-1 on penalties – Att: 1,303
What a night this was. To be 90 minutes away from a possible return to the Conference North after what hadn’t been the greatest of seasons by a long stretch, was still a massive achievement, but bloody hell we didn’t do it the easy way.
A goal down going into injury time, not a shot on target throughout, if Courtney Baker-Richardson wasn’t a fans favourite already then he most certainly was after this game as he threaded a shot through a sea of bodies into the back of the net following a 94th minute corner to send the travelling support absolutely mental. What followed was probably one of the funniest things I have ever witnessed at a Brakes game, having moved down from the main stand press box to wallow in self pity with my fellow Brakes fans as we seemingly watched our promotion dreams disappear against a team who, to be fair, were the best team in the division after Poole. There were a few of our former players in attendance, Richard Batchelor and Matty Dodd among them, and I overheard Batch say ‘If they score I’m going on the pitch’. Onto the pitch he went, hopping the perimeter fence along with Dodd to join the pile on by the corner flag as Brakes fans spilled onto the pitch to join them. The rest of us were in bits, celebrating while pissing ourselves laughing.
We then had the spectacle of a ‘steward’ (youth in a hi-vis jacket) trying to kung fu kick our supporters while attempting to hurdle a fence behind the goal. I’ve never particularly liked visiting Redditch, it just strikes me as one of those places where you could find yourself in bother if the wrong people are present, and while there were a few there on the night the club were lucky things didn’t properly blow up, other than some silly little child (apparently he was from Bromsgrove of all places – why was he even there??) trying to throw punches at celebrating Leamington fans on the pitch after the penalty shoot out before being dragged away by the police, and a little bit of bother for those travelling on the minibus afterwards. The game was supposed to be segregated but clearly wasn’t, as we had Redditch fans sitting in the seats behind us on the terrace behind the goal in the first half.
I think the lateness of the goal shattered Redditch in truth, who had taken the lead with a spectacular goal from Ashley Sammons, who would go on to regret his Twitter post the following day. Extra time came and went, and the dreaded penalties would decide who would go through to face Hungerford, who had amazingly overturned a two goal deficit ?? to win at Hitchin.
Can't wait to batter Leamington on Wednesday night in the first play off game! #COYR
Hungerford Town (A) – Play Off Final – 02/05/16 – Lost 1-2 – Att: 1,363
Looking back on this season as a whole I guess it was always destined to end this way. Certainly the strangest 8 months or so I have spent following Leamington. Normally you would class getting to a play off final as a successful season win or lose, but it just didn’t feel like that after this, and it’s difficult to put your finger on why.
The atmosphere on the journey down and leading up to kick off, and arguably up until half time, was great. The bit after not so much. At least three coachloads of Brakes fans plus loads more travelling down by other means made up a big chunk of what was probably a record gate for Hungerford at the time. After a pleasant morning while we frequented the local pubs, the weather had taken a turn for the worse by the time the game kicked off, leaving the crowd scrambling for the various forms of cover scattered around the ground.
Subsequently, a large number of Brakes fans were at the opposite end of the ground when Courtney Baker-Richardson fired us ahead just before the half hour. Hungerford have been in and around the top six or seven since being promoted into the Premier Division in 2013 however, and once they levelled in the second half Brakes just seemed to run out of ideas, and sadly there only ever looked to be one winner.
The journey home was certainly not as raucous as the one down to Berkshire, but it all seemed to have a sense of inevitability after what had gone in the nine months before.
Anyway, after all that we had a great laugh in the evening once back in Leamington thanks to Carlos, who had us all in stitches in King Baba curry house with his drunken antics. Apparently when we all left he somehow got on a train to Birmingham, went to a casino and ended up winning a load of cash, so at least the day went well for one of us!!!
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Pre Season 2016/2017
Stourbridge (H) – 09/07/16 – Lost 1-4
Meh. It’s pre season. The first warm up game means NOTHING. It’s all about fitness. Etc. But…. BUT…. Joe Magunda scored our goal.
Racing Club Warwick (A) – 12/07/16 – Won 4-1
Rob Thompson-Brown won a penalty, Ryan Rowe took it, but our back up keeper from last season, Eddie Caviezel Cox, without whom this game would have probably ended up a cricket score – saved it.
Warwick opened the scoring. Jack Edwards equalised. JOE MAGUNDA SCORED. AGAIN!!! James Mace and Lee Moore added two more. The end.
Birmingham City XI (H) – 16/07/15 – Lost 0-1
ZZzzzzz………
Highgate United (A) – 22/07/16 – Won 3-1
Ah, The Coppice. Somewhere in deepest Solihull. Home of the bar price hiking, ringer playing Highgate United, a name from our Midland Combination days. We hadn’t visited for a few years but the memories of penalty scoring goalkeepers, finding a sofa in the ‘stand’ and the general shitness of the place were still fresh.
Brakes almost went behind early on but Tony Breeden, making his first appearance of pre season, made a good save with his legs from a penalty. Highgate did take the lead through Lei Brown, another name from the past (He used to play for Romulus), but new signings Ahmed Obeng and Rob Thompson-Brown put us in front before Courtney Baker-Richardson thumped in a header with the final action of the game.
Worcester City (H) – 30/07/16 – Lost 1-2
Brakes took on a Worcester City side playing at the level they hoped to be at come the end of the season (and looking back on this, one which contained five of our future players), and lost out narrowly. Ryan Rowe scored his first of pre season to pull one back after Nathan Olukanmi had bagged a brace, the second of which was pretty special.
2016/2017 Season – Evostik Southern League Premier Division
Cirencester Town (H) – 06/08/16 – Won 3-1 – Att: 447
Ryan Rowe hadn’t exactly turned many heads in pre season, by his own admission, but as the proper action kicked off he was quickly in among the goals, opening his account on his debut for Leamington within five minutes of kick off against Ciren, and doubling his tally just inside twenty with the kind of stylish finish you expect from a striker who knows where the back of the net is. If he is half as successful as the last striker we signed from Stourbridge he won’t be doing too bad.
Rowe then turned provider early in the second half, playing in another debutant, Robbie Thompson-Brown, to finish well. The visitors immediately pulled one back much to the disgust of the home bench. Brakes had done enough for another opening day victory, but not without an outstanding double save from Tony Breeden to keep the lead intact.
Kettering Town (A) – 09/08/16 – Won 2-0 – Att: 605
This was a pleasant way to kick off the midweek games this season – get the trip to Weetabix land out of the way nice and early, and a 2-0 win to boot. Ahmed Obeng showed what he is capable of with his first goal for the club while Ryan Rowe added a late penalty for his third in two games to seal the win. Good job too, cos we broke down on the way home trying to negotiate the bloody roadworks which meant the A14 had been closed.
Hayes & Yeading United (A) – 13/08/16 – Won 1-0 – Att: 265
A decent contingent of Brakes fans made the trek down the M40 to West London for our first visit to Hayes – or was it Yeading? As was subsequently proved, the ground was far from being ready to stage football. The impressive looking main stand – the only structure in the ground when we visited – was just a shell inside. Decent view of the pitch though.
We were joined by Jonas and Jascha from our German friends SV Eichede, complete with a magic carpet – which helped to do the trick on the pitch as they finally saw us win a game thanks to an early strike from Jack Edwards.
Merthyr Town (H) – 16/08/16 – Won 1-0 – Att: 464
This was a typical hard fought contest against our friends from South Wales, as they always are, and was won right at the death as Jack Edwards headed Rob Thompson-Brown’s free kick back across goal for James Mace to stab home and spark wild celebrations on the car park terrace.
Chippenham Town (A) – 20/08/16 – Lost 0-1 – Att: 364
Our first defeat of the season, but the team have to take a lot of credit for bolting the door shut in the second half as they faced the home side kicking down their favoured slope without Tony Breeden, sent off for two yellow cards with 40 minutes played. The first was for kicking the ball away in anger at the award of a free kick, the second as he raced off his line to intercept David Pratt, who had given his side the lead minutes earlier. The fact that the challenge was closer to the corner flag than the penalty area was a little annoying, but the damage was done.
With no replacement keeper on the bench Lee Moore was substituted and Rob Elvins donned the gloves, and his team mates proceeded to do a fine job of protecting him; the hosts only having one clear cut chance to extend their lead late on. The travelling support fully appreciated the effort put in by the players and responded with incessant vocal support to help drag them over the line, despite being devastated at discovering the closure of Doorworld on our arrival in Chippenham.
Biggleswade. Every season there’s always a team that we seem to struggle to overcome, and Biggleswade had certainly been one the previous season. Until we played them I had actually liked them due to the fact that they prevented R**by Town from getting promoted back to the Premier Division a couple of seasons earlier, but that soon went out of the window after two frustrating defeats, and while we earned a draw in this game as Ahmed Obeng cancelled out an opening strike from the arrogant Inih Effiong (Jokingly asked by one of our fans to come and sign for us as he disappeared down the tunnel, he replied that we weren’t ‘good enough’!), Brakes were continually thwarted in their attempts to win the game by a superb performance from Waders keeper Ian Brown, who we had first come across when playing against Bedford Town a few years earlier. He is a top bloke and always up for some chatter with the crowd, and he was rightly applauded off the pitch after this performance. Meanwhile between the sticks at our end was Lewis Gwilliams, who was also christened Lewis G Williams by Berger, and ‘Tony Breeden’s twin brother’ for his uncanny likeness to our regular stopper. He didn’t do a lot wrong to be fair to him.
Stratford Town (A) – 29/08/16 – Won 2-0 – Att: 523
Another win at the Petrol Station thanks to two classy goals from Ryan Rowe in the first half. Town had four former Brakes players in their starting eleven, one on the bench, plus our former coach Liam O’Neill wanting to get one over on us, but they would have to wait for another day as they never really troubled the returning Tony Breeden in this contest.
Highgate United (A) – 03/09/16 – FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round – Lost 1-3 – Att: 231
Oh dear. Where do we start with this one. Having gone to Highgate in pre season and won fairly comfortably, perhaps the players thought they had only to turn up to win this one. Wrong. This is the FA Cup, where we have done little right since that storming run of 2005, and our ‘run’ was over before it had even begun here.
These kind of ties are incredibly frustrating for the fans, for while ‘on paper’ it looks like a great opportunity to progress, the reality is rarely like that, and so it proved to be here. Leamington went three goals behind to their Step 5 opponents before Jack Edwards’ looping header pulled one back with 20 minutes to go, but despite huffing and puffing it was not to be. Connor Gudger saw red before the end, and Highgate were added to the ever lengthening list of FA Cup disasters. This one would not be forgotten too quickly.
Weymouth (H) – 10/09/16 – Drew 1-1 – Att: 455
Back to league business, but it was another disappointing result as Brakes handed Weymouth the chance to grab a point with a last minute penalty.
Ahmed Obeng set up Ryan Rowe to fire Leamington ahead and new loan signing Zak Lily rattled the crossbar twice before the late drama.
Redditch United (H) – 13/09/16 – Won 2-1 – Att: 408
Redditch were unrecognisable from the side Brakes faced in the play offs back in May, and despite them taking an early lead Leamington hit back through Rowe and what looked like an own goal late on to take the points.
St Ives Town – (A) – 24/09/16 – Won 5-0 – Att: 313
The long haul up the A14 to St Ives yielded a nice ‘old five’ for Leamington as they continued to keep pace at the top of the table. Ahmed Obeng grabbed two and Ryan Rowe a penalty in the first half to practically finish the game as a contest, while (Bring on) Ryan Quinn made his debut from the bench in the second half and impressed, helping Courtney Baker-Richardson to bag a double.
Slough Town (A) – 27/09/16 – Lost 0-2 – Att: 687
Brakes were the first midweek visitors to Slough’s new Arbour Park stadium, as the league leaders opened up a three point gap at the top of the table. The place is not 100% finished but still looks impressive, and the travelling support made full use of the covered terraces at both ends to get behind their team, ultimately to no avail.
The biggest laugh of the evening was reserved for one of the Slough stewards, who thought he was going to scare us when trying to take Pete to task for daring to have a lid on his bottle of pop, telling us that he was West Ham. Needless to say he was treated with the amusing contempt he deserved…….
Cinderford Town (H) – 01/10/16 – Won 6-0 – Att: 402
Evesham United (H) – 04/10/16 – Southern League Challenge Cup 1st Round – Won 4-1 – Att: 218
Fixtures against Evesham United would have been met with a collective groan from Brakes fans in the past, as invariably they turned out to be turgid, goalless affairs on more than one occasion, but this one was different as they eventually overpowered their South & West Division visitors with some classy goals, including a first for the club for Tom James, in his third spell.
Dorchester provided slightly more stern opposition than they had done in the fixtures the previous season here. Rob Thompson-Brown drove a fine opener home from distance after some good work.
Having lost Hoody here to a dirty challenge in the corresponding fixture last season, this time it was Callum Gittings who left the pitch on a stretcher thanks to another late lunge. Dorchester levelled from the penalty spot but Richard Taundry put us ahead for a second time when his free kick struck the post and then the back of keeper Shane Murphy to find the net. Dorchester found a second equaliser however, causing a few of their fans to get mouthy, though any potential trouble was avoided.
King’s Lynn Town (H) – 11/10/16 – Won 3-0 – Att: 345
Redditch United (A) – 18/10/16 – Won 2-0 – Att: 340
We half expected to encounter more local eejits at The Valley Stadium, which had undergone something of a facelift since that dramatic May evening, with the pitch being replaced by a 3G version, along with the requisite fencing to enable it to be used by the community, but there were none to be seen as Brakes cantered to a straightforward three points. It was Ryan Rowe at the double once more, capitalising on a gift from Reds keeper Brad Catlow to score the first before slotting home following good work from Jack Edwards.
Tony Breeden returned to the scene of his finest hour and duly saved another penalty to prevent Redditch from getting on the scoresheet. They must hate the sight of him.
St Neots Town (A) – 22/10/16 – Won 1-0 – Att: 325
St Neots are not quite the same club we came across back in 2012/13 when they strutted into the Premier Division with their ££££, tippy tappy football and arrogant managers. They came close to promotion in 2015 when losing to Truro in the Play Off Final, but whoever had been pumping the cash in had clearly decided they couldn’t be arsed anymore. Much to the travelling fans disappointment, the chip shop style food that was available on our first visit had been replaced by, well, not much really.
Although struggling at the wrong end of the table they certainly made life tough for Brakes here, but a 1-0 win was enough, thanks to a classy strike from Ryan Rowe just past the hour.
Cambridge City (H) – 25/10/16 – Won 1-0 – Att: 435
Not a great performance this one, as struggling Cambridge put up a real fight, but they were defeated by a late goal from an unlikely source in Connor Gudger to hand Brakes all three points.
Mickleover Sports (H) – 29/10/16 – FA Trophy 1st Qualifying Round – Lost 0-1 – Att: 352
Oh dear. Another national cup competition, another exit at the first hurdle. The natives were not happy at all. Our first meeting with Derby based Mickleover Sports since 2002, when they kicked us (literally) out of the FA Vase, this one went a similar way, a solitary goal being enough to see us out of both major cup competitions straight away. Time to ‘concentrate on the league’ then, eh……..
Bedworth United (A) – 01/11/16 – Birmingham Senior Cup 1st Round – Won 3-2 – Att: 113
Normal service was resumed against the bitter green people from the North of God’s County at the Plastic Rectangle in the Senior Cup. Fortunately we don’t have to play them in the league this season after they were relegated. We even let them take the lead twice before hitting back late on to dump them out of the cup. Rowe, Mace and Baker-Richardson scored our goals.
Basingstoke Town (H) – 05/11/16 – Won 3-1 – Att: 526
Basingstoke were supposed to be one the big challengers for promotion this season, having dropped down from the Conference South, but they didn’t put up much of a fight on their first visit to Leamington. Ahmed Obeng, a stunner from Courtney Baker-Richardson and Jack Edwards with our goals.
Stratford Town (A) – Lost 0-4 – Southern League Challenge Cup 2nd Round – Att: 232
Ahem. The less said about this the better I think. Zero interest in this competition whatsoever, but to get thumped by that lot from Tourist Town is not great really is it.
Nuneaton Town (H) – 15/11/16 – Birmingham Senior Cup 2nd Round – Won 2-1 – Att:
Another Senior Cup tie against Warwickshire opposition, another win; this time higher league Nuneaton. Jack Edwards and a Ryan Rowe penalty put Leamington fully in control of this one early on, and though Nuneaton pulled one back they were unable to do any further damage, and thus fell to THE PRIDE OF WARWICKSHIRE!
Hayes & Yeading United (H) – 19/11/16 – Won 2-0 – Att: 404
Hayes & Yeading hadn’t done great since our last meeting early in the season, but they put up a spirited fight here despite losing again. Their new joint managers had just switched from league rivals Kings Langley, and would have been pleased with how their team performed. Our first goal was an o.g, Ryan Rowe grabbing the second before half time, which would turn out to be his last goal for us as he went strangely awol for a number of alleged reasons soon afterwards.
Merthyr Town (A) – 22/11/16 – Drew 1-1 – Att: 487
Brakes made the long midweek haul to Merthyr to take on another promotion chasing rival, coming away with a useful point after Darren Pond cancelled out the home sides’ early opener. Anyone who has been to Penydarren Park before will know all about the tight residential streets on the approach to the ground. Unfortunately the team coach driver didn’t, and managed to prang the minibus being used by the supporters as he attempted to turn a corner, much to the amusement of the players at the back of the coach.
Cirencester Town (A) – 25/11/16 – Won 2-1 – Att: 192
The second ‘Fosse Way derby’ of the season produced another win for Brakes. Facing another side under new management and with a raft of new faces, the opening exchanges were pretty even, but Leamington took control with two quick fire well worked goals from Jack Edwards and CBR.
Ciren halved the deficit from the penalty spot just before half time to make things interesting, but the second half saw their keeper Raajan Gill take centre stage as he prevented Brakes from adding to their lead with a string of fine saves. He was also up for some friendly banter, something which was not extended to his team mate at right back, who was derided for being a cheating twat.
Hitchin Town (H) – 03/12/16 – Lost 1-2 – Att: 504
Hitchin were the last team to win at the NWG last season, and 19 games later they were at it again, ending our decent unbeaten streak. Last season it was Callum Donnelly, this time it was his annoying brother Brett who scored their goals. The striker is one of those sort of players you would love to have in your team as he winds up opposition fans, but we had the last laugh as he was rather harshly sent off, having been booked for celebrating with the travelling fans behind the goal in the first half and then for a high boot to the face of Jamie Hood. Harsh, maybe, but because it was him it was funny. CBR immediately headed a goal back but Brakes were unable to snatch a point.
Dunstable Town (A) – 06/12/16 – Won 2-0 – Att: 101
Brakes got back to winning ways on a Tuesday evening at Dunstable thanks to Ahmed and Courtney, but this game was marred by an awful clash of heads between Darren Pond and Dunstable’s Sam Doolan which looked worrying for both players for a time. Pondy was able to continue, while Doolan was taken to hospital as a precaution and was thankfully ok.
Loanee Dan Preston made his debut in the centre of defence to cover for Jamie Hood, and looked a more than capable deputy.
I must add that I found a lovely kebab house on my way out of Dunstable on the main road – well worth a visit if we ever go there again.
Frome Town (A) – 10/12/16 – Drew 0-0 – Att: 219
What is it about Frome Town and goalless draws? Our fourth visit there and this was the third one. It’s a bloody long way to travel for no goals, but they are a tough side to play on their own patch.
Despite having striker Richard Gregory making his debut having joined from Stratford, Brakes were unable to find a way through. There was probably more entertainment off the pitch, with various drunken members of the travelling support, while some equally inebriated locals came and joined us in the final stages for some random conversation.
Kings Langley (A) – 17/12/16 – Won 2-0 – Att: 122
A new one for us – Kings Langley, a large village on the very outskirts of London, just this side of the M25. They have come up a few divisions in a short space of time to find themselves in the SLP, and were inevitably fighting at the wrong end of the table when we made our pre Christmas visit.
One local pub owner certainly enjoyed the visit from the travelling support, imploring them to return should we ever visit again. It is to be hoped that we don’t. It was like travelling back in time to the Midland Combination or the Alliance, facilities wise. Not to mention to gaggle of irritating young children who were fine in the first half but in the second chose to stand at the same end we were shooting towards and attempt to annoy some of our number, which of course, due to the alcohol consumed by many, they did. The Kings Langley officials were not particularly helpful with it either.
On the pitch, Richard Gregory made his mark in only his second game by bagging a double inside the opening twenty minutes.
Chesham United (H) – 20/12/16 – A-A
Controversial! Brakes were looking to win this one to go into the Christmas fixtures with a ten point lead at the top of the table, but old foes Chesham went ahead with just six minutes on the clock thanks to a bit of dodgy handball play from old timer Barry Hayles which escaped the gaze of referee Sarah Garrett, who awarded the goal.
Then it was Chesham’s turn to be annoyed when some of the floodlights went out with around 15 minutes gone. After a lengthy stoppage in which a quick fix could not be found, the match was abandoned..
2016 ended with dropped points against near neighbours Stratford, thanks to a late equaliser from a player who was with us for all of five minutes at the beginning of last season.
Richard Gregory picked up where he had left off at Kings Langley, scoring against his former club in the first half, but Brakes were not at their best in the second half and Kieren Westwood scored a cracking equaliser to earn his side a share of the spoils.
One thing is certain though, Leamington leave this year with more purpose and direction than they came into it, and with a good chance of providing themselves with the opportunity go one better and win promotion……
Finally, I bowed to the inevitable and retired last December, deciding that after 54 years of work (I would hesitate to call it a career), it was time to enjoy an uninterrupted year of sport, culture and travelling my favourite heritage railway lines.
How wrong I was.
The football season remains suspended at the top levels with a hope, rather than an expectation, that it will recommence on 1 May. Lower down the pyramid, the season has already been abandoned, declared null and void, meaning good news for those clubs facing relegation, but bad news for those in line for promotion.
With promotion to the English Football League at stake, the National League has still to make a decision but, with many professional and semi-professional clubs facing deep financial trouble from a prolonged lockdown, the situation can’t go on much longer and calling a halt must come sooner, rather than later.
To fill a few spare minutes over the weekends, I have helped the relaunched Southam United men’s team with their match reports and, having won all but one of their 17 encounters in the Hellenic League division two north, they have been denied the title that, barring the all the wheels coming off the wagon, they would have won.
Had the leagues been decided on average points per game, then Saints would still have won in a canter, but the FA decided that no result was better than a simplified version of cricket’s Duckworth/Lewis Method.
For leading scorer Levi Steele, his achievement of 36 goals in 23 league and cup matches now counts for nothing and, like everyone down in the lower reaches, he and the club have to start all over again whenever the new season gets underway.
Photo (c) Steve Green
Should the Premiership be abandoned, then Aston Villa will be reprieved, but I am not sure that will bring me joy. The season has been a testing time for fans, with poor performances and the dreadful VAR straining loyalty to the club and to football itself.
It has been good to see the best players in the country but, when your team is on the receiving end of too many beatings, the 6-1 home defeat to Manchester City being the worst so far, then it is hard to emerge from Villa Park with a smile on your face.
There is so much TV money involved, of course, that abandoning the season would be a last resort, but there will come a time when it will not be possible to complete the current one and start the next, so a difficult decision awaits someone.
Should next season have to be truncated, then allowing development sides into cup competitions as a matter of course, something that Liverpool did this time around, and abandoning replays have already been floated as ways and means to resolve fixture congestion.
The lucrative European fixtures and the Premiership itself will be protected, but everything else is up for grabs. Just don’t mention the words history and tradition, as nobody will be listening!
I am no expert on Covid-19, but one thing I am pretty sure about is that we haven’t seen the worst yet and, whatever dates are being put forward to restarting sport, we won’t be seeing anything for some time to come.
Having planned to follow as many sports and activities as I could, already two MCC members supper nights at Lord’s have bitten the dust, as well as Goodwood’s 78th Members Meeting over the historic motor racing circuit. My newly-acquired Somerset County Cricket Club season ticket isn’t going to get an early use and I am not anticipating reporting on race meetings until the autumn at the earliest.
With theatres, cinemas, art galleries and restaurants closed indefinitely, there will be no watching of The Comedy of Errors at the RSC in April but, thankfully, we did get to the members preview at Compton Verney to see their latest exhibition before it closed to the public.
This year is going to be a write-off for many people both personally and professionally and life as we knew it before will not return. We are about to enter a very different era and, when sport does return in whatever form, we will need the uplift which very few other aspects of life can give.
Responding to pleas for help is fast becoming my undoing.
I am a member of the Mini Cooper Register a club, as its name implies, dedicated to preserving the history of one of the nation’s most iconic motorcars. The first Mini rolled off the Longbridge production line in 1959 and there are celebrations world-wide for the car’s 60th birthday this year, including at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon on August 4th (get there if you can).
They were looking for a public relations officer and, having written an article or two and produced a few press releases in my time, I said I would help if nobody else came forward. The speed at which they bit my hand off should have been a warning and there hasn’t been a day since when I haven’t done something for the club.
It was on Twitter than I saw a request for WW articles and so I thought I would have a few moans and groans about the “beautiful game” as the money men and media like to call it but, from what I see, is far from that at times.
My one planned trip to a non-league match this season was scuppered by the weather when the only snow of the winter arrived in early February. Each year, I sponsor a match at Southern League Premier side Taunton Town in memory of my uncle who supported them for over 50 years and who I went with as a teenager selling programmes on the gate.
Their opponents were Swindon Supermarine, a side with a wonderful name deriving from the factory on the outskirts of the town which made the Spitfire the nation’s most famous aircraft. Now 76 years since it first flew, the fighter plane’s memory still lives on here through the Supermarine Sports Club that bears the name of the company that manufactured the aircraft in Swindon from 1941-44.
The match was called off and rearranged for later in the month, but on a midweek date that I couldn’t make. The occasion and helping the club were more important than my being there, although a 1-1 draw wasn’t the result that I had hoped to see when I checked that evening.
So, what have I got to moan about?
Well, let’s start with the offside rule which, when I was a lad, was easy to understand. You had to have two players between you and the goal when the ball was kicked and, if you didn’t, then you were offside.
Now, the match officials have to decide whether you are interfering with play although, as Bill Shankly famously said “If a player is not interfering with play or seeking to gain an advantage, then he should be”.
Even if the linesman, sorry assistant referee, has managed to keep up with play, who makes the decision and, if it falls to the referee, how does he judge interference?
Then there is the question of calling offside decisions. If I heard it correctly the other night, someone in their wisdom has decreed in Champions League matches that the assistant only flags if a goal is scored. It’s bad enough when a marginal decision goes against your side, but to get the ball in the net and then have the goal ruled out seems a bit barmy to me.
Re-naming linesmen as assistant referees implies a level of authority that they just don’t have. At throw-ins and corners, they either don’t know who should get the decision, or have been instructed by the referee not to flag until he tells them. More barmy stuff.
Then we have the continuing fuss over diving, or simulation as the professionals like to call it (that all sounds a bit risqué to me, but what do we mere mortals know?). It used be said that diving was something brought to this country from the continent; British players, of course, being above such unsporting behaviour.
But now, everyone seems to be at it with muscular, finely-trained athletes falling over at a mere nudge or, in the worst cases, no contact at all. To make it look good, it’s always advisable to clutch your head and writhe in agony on the ground whilst your team mates surround the referee demanding that the “culprit” be sent off to give your side an advantage for the rest of the match.
If the game’s rulers can tell me what’s beautiful about that, I would love to hear from them.
The Video Assistant Referee system (VAR) came into sharp focus (no pun intended) in the Paris St-Germain v. Manchester United clash recently. Whilst you couldn’t fault the drama the penalty incident evoked, there was the unanswered question as to what prompted the referee to review his decision to award a corner which United were getting ready to take and the time spent looking at the screen before he changed his mind.
In cricket, third umpire reviews are well established and there is just as much drama and tension as everyone looks up at the big screen to catch the result. It might be me, but cricket seems to get there quicker and it is someone independent of the umpire who has the call, thus saving the reaction that the referee’s decision provoked in the PSG players who were doing everything they could to challenge him and put Marcus Rashford off as he prepared to take the penalty.
A final moan about club shops where you can, in exchange for your money, become a walking billboard for the sponsor.
Manchester United fans are able to advertise an American car manufacturer for the princely sum of £69.95 although, if that is too much for their pocket, they can save £5 by having the short-sleeve version.
Looking at the club shop website, all the kit seems to be in the clearance sale right now, so I guess that a new one is in the offing for next season. Better start saving your pennies now.
At Aston Villa, I am able to advertise a bookmaker, which also sponsors another club in claret and blue so, perhaps, there are economies of scale in the kit manufacture. Being a racing correspondent, I have nothing against bookmakers as such, but they seem to be everywhere these days. I find the adverts intruding into televised football to be a nuisance with that famous actor encouraging me to have a bet as if I couldn’t possibly enjoy the match without one.
Still Stoke City fans won’t mind, as some of the bookmaker’s profits help support their club which is, at least, locally owned, a rarity in football these days.
I could have added time-wasting to my list, something that visiting clubs to Villa Park must practice, as they don’t miss an opportunity to run the clock down almost from the kick-off. Then there are the fans who stand in a stadium that was made all-seater for their safety and the chanting and shouting which goes beyond unpleasantness.
So this is “the beautiful game” as we know it. I really think someone is having a laugh at our expense, but we still keep falling for it. The question is though, for how much longer?
Bremen – Hamburg – Bargteheide – Lubeck – Eichede, and far too much alcohol – Germany 2015 – The Brakes Choir’s European Excursion – Part II …………
Our German brothers made this flag to commemorate the date of our first meeting. By hand. How cool is that??!
There seems to be a popular misconception, probably stemming from those who have never visited Germany, that them and us don’t get on, but those of us who went on both of these trips can report emphatically that that is simply not true. We were treated superbly by our hosts during our time there, with the beer almost on tap for those who wanted it (Ok, everyone but me, pretty much!!).
Around 13 Brakes fans travelled, some of us going the long way round to get to our destination this time, driving to Stanstead before flying to Bremen, with a long train journey to Hamburg before another hop out to Bargteheide, a small town some 27 miles north west, which would be our base during this visit. Some of the Baby Brakes had travelled out a day early and fitted in a tour of Werder Bremen’s Weser-Stadion.
We eventually met up in Bremen and travelled out to Bargteheide where we met up with Benni, who said we only had a short walk to our hostel. What seemed like a route march later, we arrived at a rather strange looking building that looked more like a warehouse. The proprietor certainly seemed happy to greet us….
Not your average hostel……
We had a game to take in that afternoon, and were picked up by minibuses which ferried us out deep into the countryside. We eventually rocked up at what I can only describe as – a pitch. Think most of the away games we played in the Midland Comb Division 2 and you’ll get the picture, except there wasn’t even any rope round it. This was the home of SV Siek, hosting a local cup final (Kreispokalfinale) between our friends’ team SV Eichede and local rivals SV Preußen Reinfeld. A large tent formed a makeshift clubhouse, and as always the beer and bratwurst were in plentiful supply. Not the most glamorous of surroundings for a cup final maybe, but it’s what you make it, and there was certainly a decent sized crowd of a few hundred present to make it an occasion.
Our flags had travelled with us and they were raised along with some impressive creations from our German friends, who have designed and handpainted many of their flags, including a new one that they had also produced in sticker form, comemorating the date of our first meeting the previous March (see above), which was really impressive. We had also one made up, and presented it to our friends prior to kick off.
To the point……
Our Eichede friends the Alkatraz had set up shop at the far end of the pitch, and proceded to add to the standard raucous backing of their team by handing out red and white smoke flares to the group, which made for quite a sight.
Eichede were apparently find 150 euros for the pyro display, the lads using the excuse that we were present! It was amusing on the Sunday when on receiving a welcome over the P.A at their game, the plea of please, no more pyro! was made – we had nothing to do with it – honest!
With alcohol arriving regularly in what looked like old milk crates, the atmosphere was loud and constant as the Eichede team, wearing their yellow and black change strip in honour of our visit, eased to a 3-1 victory and we celebrated on the pitch with the players at full time.
The following day we took the train into Lübeck, where most of our friends reside, and visited their local bar before taking in another match, this time the Regionalliga Nord fixture between Vfb Lübeck and Hannover 96’s Under 23 side.
Hannover’s first team play in the Bundesliga, but the Ultras section of their support had begun following the Under 23 side after some disagreements with the clubs’ hierachy, so there was a bigger crowd for this game than perhaps there might have been. What we didn’t expect to see was the huge police presence on the streets surrounding the ground. The German police certainly look like they don’t mess around, some were even armed, and we feared the worst when some of them approached us as we made our way to the stadium, but after Jascha explained why we were there they let us continue, though keeping an eye on us.
Lübeck’s stadium was quite large, the club having played much higher up the German league system in years gone by, and the away support was segregated at the far end. The home ‘Ultras’ did their best to match them, while the two sides played out a 1-1 draw, which we observed from one of the seated stands along the side of the pitch.
Home support….
….and away….
Sunday saw the main event of our visit – we finally got to visit Eichede and take in a home game. We were collected from our hostel and taxied out deep into the countryside once more, to a bar (the only bar?) on the edge of the village.
It was a lovely sunny morning, and with beautiful countryside all around us it felt like we were somewhere at home. A couple of hours were spent here as a barbecue and plety of drinks were laid on, before we made the short walk across the village to the Ernst Wagener Stadion.
The stadium itself was a tidy affair with a good playing surface. Mainly uncovered bench type seating wrapped around almost half of the stadium, with the rest comprised of hard standing. The clubhouse was situated behind the near goal. PSV Union Neumünster were the visitors and we were treated to a great display from the SVE, who ran out 4-1 winners to keep their ultimately successful promotion charge on track.
We remained long after the aftenoon’s crowd had drifted away, even having a kickabout of our own out on the pitch. The hospitality shown to us by our friends was quite simply above and beyond. No drinks were paid for, and we were each given an SVE shirt as a momento of our visit, most of the lads getting the team to sign theirs.
It has begun to rain by the time we went out to wait for our taxi’s back to Bargteheide and the kebab shop which had done a roaring trade out of us over the weekend.
The following morning it was time to go home, and we left our digs with something of a flea in our ears, the owner was apparently not best pleased that some toilet roll had been thrown about during some late night hi-jinks. Never mind the fact that it had all been replaced in the toilets on a shelf, this apparently meant that we were hooligans. We’d even left the communal kitchen in a better state than it had been when we arrived. Bit of an overreaction really! Still, it didn’t tarnish what had been a great weekend, and we returned home with more great memories.
There have been return visits on both sides over the last couple of years, with Brakes even managing to record some wins for the Germans last season!
It took virtually the whole of the summer and the timing couldn’t have been worse from a Leamington perspective, but Courtney Baker-Richardson capped a remarkable 18 months since signing for the club by earning a return to the professional ranks with Premier League Swansea City.
After a long wait over the close season, Brakes fans discovered just three days before the pre season fixtures began that last season’s top scorer had agreed to remain at the club for the new campaign, which was a huge boost, given his and the rest of the squads form during the warm up, as we prepared for a return to the National League North.
Picking up from where he left off with 20 goals in 2016/17, (The last one being the extra time winner against Hitchin Town in the Play Off Final to win promotion for Brakes) Courtney was involved in every game during pre season as Brakes racked up five wins and a draw, chipping in with another 5 goals. However, just a few days after the final pre season friendly at Bromsgrove Sporting, the club reported that Leicester City had invited the 21 year old to link up with them for a few days . It was not until the opening Saturday of the season when we travelled to Gainsborough Trinity that the news broke of Swansea’s interest. Spirits were high at that point as Leamington returned from Lincolnshire with a 2-1 victory courtesey of Ahmed Obeng’s brace, but the following two games back at the Phillips 66 Community Stadium highlighted that we were desperately missing Courtney’s ability to put the ball in the net, something that he witnessed for himself as he watched the unfortunate 1-0 reverse against Southport.
Two days later it was confirmed. Having been offered a deal by both Leicester and Swansea, with the advice of his agent Lee Marsh, Courtney decided that his career would benefit more from a move to South Wales, and he signed a two year contract at the Liberty Stadium.
A goal neither Courtney nor any of us will forget in a hurry……
It is fair to say that Courtney hit the ground running after joining the club in February 2016, making his home debut as a substitute in a 1-0 defeat to Hitchin on the 13th, and marking his full debut in style two days later with two goals in the last ten minutes in a 2-1 victory at Hungerford Town that would rouse Brakes from their mid season malaise and set them on a run that would propel them back into the play off places. He then followed it up with the winner against Stratford Town three games later, the game clinching second goal in the following match at Merthyr Town, then another at Cirencester Town in the final away game of the league season. This was followed up by the dramatic injury time equaliser in the play off semi final at Redditch United which saw us go on to win on penalties. The final at Hungerford unfortunately didn’t go to plan, with a decent first half display and Courtney’s seventh goal of the season for us was followed by a poor second half that saw the hosts score twice, leaving the huge travelling support with a miserable journey back from Berkshire.
Leamington have often followed up bitter disappointment with success in their recent history though, and without that defeat at Hungerford we wouldn’t have experienced the highs of last season. Pressed on how he felt his time had gone at the club, the reply was ‘Better than expected. Definitely better than expected. I came here with ambition, and drive, passion as well, I just needed the gaffer to take full faith in me. For the first part it was a bit rocky to begin with but we got there in the end. Obviously last season I excelled and just kept it going. I didn’t want to play on the right wing but for the sake of the team sometimes you’ve just got to dig in and do your job, and it was getting results, so in that respect being at Leamington has definitely pushed my career on from where it was to where it is now.’
‘And what?’
‘I’ve signed a two year deal at Swansea, i’ll be playing in the Under 23’s, but with a high potential of first team football. If i’m banging goals in and performing then they won’t be looking elsewhere to get loan players in, they want to promote from their Youth system.’
Leicester City, who signed Jacob Blyth from us back in 2012, were also interested, and they made the first moves.
‘Me and my agent asked the same question of both teams, Swansea and Leicester. No disrespect to Leicester as they are a class club, but they just kept saying that it was a good Under 23 system, whereas when I went down to Swansea it felt like a good decision to make. I think I will benefit from going down there, away from any potential distractions, and will be able to knuckle down and better myself.’
I ask whether there might be the chance of a pre season friendly next summer? ‘Ha ha, I’m sure I could ask my gaffer if it could be arranged!’ Talk briefly switches to when Blyth signed for Leicester and his unfortunate departure from Motherwell before Courtney stresses ‘Some guys just get lost it in don’t they, but i’ve never ever entertained drugs or anything like that. I barely even drink. I just committed to the cause, go to the gym, eat right, live right and do the right things.’
Quizzed on how he felt when he was released by Coventry, I mistakenly assume he is a fan of the Sky Blues. ‘I grew up in Coventry. I supported them cos it’s the team you play for innit, but… obviously at the time I was disappointed, because everything you’ve worked for is sort of wiped from under you, but reality hit and I had to play in non league but it’s worked out well for me. I’ve experienced the lows and now i’m about to hit the highs, and I don’t plan on stopping.
We talk about his path after Coventry. ‘I went to Torquay, didn’t get offered anything there, went to Kidderminster and they wanted to offer me something but they were releasing players for their budget and stuff. I went to Romulus, did well there, signed for Nuneaton, played two games for them I think it was, and they wanted to take me off Romulus full time but I signed for Redditch instead. Bad move that was, didn’t wanna do that. The energy there was all wrong, I felt like it was sucking the life out of me.’
It was at Kettering that Courtney first came to most people’s attention, and he started the 2015/2016 well, scoring several goals before picking up an injury. ‘I was top goalscorer but I rolled my ankle. I came back from that, I was still top goalscorer for the whole month and a half I was out, but Marcus Law felt like bringing someone else in.’
It must have been a boost for Courtney that a team higher up the table came in for him at a time when he was unable to force his way back into the Poppies side? ‘I knew the gaffer liked me from when we played at Leamington anyway. After the game he shook my hand, said I really like you, well done you, etc, so I knew coming here was a good option because I knew I was favoured, you know what I mean?’
Bosh……
….’Ave it!
We recall his debut double at Hungerford and the play off semi final goal at Redditch, and he smiles, ‘If you want goals, there’s only one man to call!!’ I jokingly ask if we can have him back on loan! ‘I’d like to say yeah but it’s out of my control really. I turned down other clubs in pre season to stay at Leamington because I didn’t feel they were right for me. The club has a big place in my heart now, I’m a Leamington fan! The whole club, right through to the back room, is class. Any free Saturdays I get now, I’m coming to watch Leamington!’
I catch up with Courtney again at the beginning of November to get his thoughts on his first few months at Swansea.
‘It’s been a good first few months, I’ve been a bit unfortunate with a couple of injuries caused by the daily workload, but I’m being managed well and looked after. I haven’t really been 100% but it’s being sorted and I am looking forward to feeling myself again. It’s a great environment and place to be. I think i’ve started 5-6 games, 1 goal and 4 assists but that’ll soon change.’
I guess that the transition from part time to full time training is always going to take its toll until he becomes used to it. ‘Exactly. Fortunately we have great physio’s and sports scientists that know how to manage me.’
And how has he found competing against League 2 sides Cheltenham Town, Newport County and Forest Green Rovers in the Checkatrade Trophy? He made an instant impact in his first game for the Under 23’s at Cheltenham, setting up the winning goal for Aaron Lewis in a 2-1 win, and the Swans youngsters went on to beat Newport and Forest Green to progress to the last 32.
‘It’s been a great experience. Playing in that competition shows that young lads can compete with the physical side of the game against grown men who have had years of experience and have learnt their trade in those leagues.’
Courtney also got some early involvement with the first team when he was handed a place on the bench in their Carabao Cup tie at MK Dons. ‘It came as a complete surprise to me! I was meant to have the day off that day but I got a phone call in the morning and was told I was travelling and then they transported me down. It would have been nice to stretch my legs but even so it was great to be in and around it. I’ve been called up to train with the first team several times, so I’m happy with the position I’m in.’
Although unable to learn from experienced Spanish frontman Fernando Llorente as he departed for Tottenham, being able to observe the likes of Wilfried Bony and Tammy Abraham will surely benefit Courtney in the long term.
There is always a sense of pride when a player from your club goes on to bigger and better things, something that anybody involved at a non league football would surely concur with. Brakes fans have always followed the careers of former heroes with interest – Alex Rodman was the first of the modern era to progress to the Football League after spending the first season of his senior career at the New Windmill Ground. More recently we have seen Jacob Blyth step up to the pro game with Leicester and then Motherwell, while Danny Newton got off to a storming start after stepping up from Tamworth to join League Two side Stevenage in the summer, scoring in each of his first three league games. We are proud that these players were helped in some small way by their time at Leamington Football Club, and we will all be watching Courtney’s progress with interest. You only had to take a look at the social media platforms at the good wishes being passed on to see what everybody thought of him. We will be watching your career progress with interest Courtney, good luck!
We conducted this interview over the summer months, but as it turns out Jack has returned before I had chance to get it online, so we have turned it into a celebration of his homecoming instead!
Everyone was hugely disappointed but also very supportive when Jack made what he called a ‘gut wrenching decision’ to leave Leamington and step up to the National League with Solihull Moors. The choice of club maybe wasn’t greeted with as much enthusiasm, as Solihull have swiped a number of players from us over the last few years, but having worked his way up the non league pyramid and after all he had done for us over his three seasons with us, nobody could begrudge him a move to Step 1.
‘I started playing at around the age of 8 or 9 when my Dad and others in our area decided to take their coaching badges and do their bit for the local Balsall and Berkswell teams, Balsall Hornets in particular. From there I joined the Under 16’s at Stratford Town, and also had a brief spell at Coventry City, which didn’t go very well.
‘We played in the Central Warwickshire Division and challenged for the title each year before moving to the Youth set up under managers Pete Stephens and my father Mark Edwards.’
Jack puts his football pedigree down to his Grandad Cliff Edwards, who played for Coventry City. ‘His steel toe capped football boots are in a Coventry museum somewhere. This passion was handed down to my Dad, who I have heard being referred to as a hard tackling ball winning central midfielder. You wouldn’t believe it now! He played for Coventry Sporting who were one of the strongest Coventry sides of the era, reaching the FA Cup first round. I think they played Stevenage.’ Jack’s memory is slightly out here, though as it was before his time we can let him off I think! As luck would have it I was able to chat to his Dad Mark on the coach to Darlington. He did indeed play for Coventry Sporting during the 1970’s, and was part of their side that beat Tranmere Rovers 2-1 in the 1st Round, a game which was played at Highfield Road. In the next round they drew Peterborough United at home but were knocked out by 4 goals to 2. He also played for Redditch United and Nuneaton Borough. ‘I was a better player than Jack!’, he laughs. ‘I used to hurt people, but you could get away with it back then. It was all legit!!’
A desire to make his mark as part of a footballing family has been a driving force personally for Jack.
‘I didn’t feel I was in with a chance of getting a look in with the first team at Stratford as at the time they were spending money to bring in big players in the Midland Alliance (which didn’t work! – Ed) so Dennis Mulholland, who is a legend, put in a good word for at Studley with the management team there, Glen and Lee Adams. They were in the Midland Alliance at the time, which seems so long ago now, and the two years I spent there really gave me the platform to cut my teeth in the men’s game. Without that grounding and guidance I wouldn’t have been able to build a career in non league football. Studley are a great club with genuine people who love their football.
Pressed as to whether he can recall any memorable moments from his time at The Beehive, ‘there was a volley against Loughborough University. The keeper didn’t even see it. My biggest career goal was while at Studley – my first ever goal in senior football. We were playing away, I can’t remember where, and I wasn’t due to start but there was an injury so I was thrown into the starting line up. Ian Mitchell threaded a great pass through and I got there just ahead of the keeper to slot it into the far corner from the edge of the box. I ran the entire length of the pitch to high five Dennis Mulholland and Glen Adams. That goal gave me the confidence and belief to play the men’s game.
I wondered whether Jack came up against Brakes in his early days. We had left the Midland Alliance by that stage, but he remembers a Birmingham Senior Cup game, probably around 2008 time. I remember beating Martin Hier in the air, that’s for sure!’
I mention to Jack that I came across an old newspaper article that mentioned that his brother Ali also played for Studley. His Dad was able to drag up the game from the memory banks. ‘It was an away game, at Malvern. He played left back. You can imagine what that was like, with two of them out there. He was just as feisty!’ Jack had almost forgotten this piece of family history. ‘Ha ha, I’d completely forgotten that my brother played but I do kind of recollect. A nice family moment.’
‘Most of my memories from my time at Studley are of the dressing room. Full of absolute nutters! Dennis (Mulholland), the Adams’ family and Pete Saunders I think it was, who was also known as Muffa. My next move was to Coventry Sphinx, which was in my home town so always a good move, but it was tough to leave a club like Studley.
Long time followers of Leamington will be able to remember a number of battles against both Studley and Coventry Sphinx over the Midland Combination and Midland Alliance years. From an outsider’s perspective Sphinx always looked like a good platform for local players to make their name before kicking on. And after two years at Studley that’s what Jack did.
Jack’s football kit modelling career never really took off
‘I had a good time at Sphinx. Danny McSheffrey and Lee Knibbs were manager and coach. As with Studley, Sphinx was a good club and they were both good for me in terms of my career. The pitch at Sphinx Drive was always on a slant but was a carpet at the right times of year. We did ok in my first year there but in the second we had a chance of winning the Midland Alliance title, finishing third in the end, but it was off the back of that that I was signed up by Jimmy Ginnelly and Barwell. Being recommended by respected people in the game also helped, one of those was Dennis Mulholland again. I owe him a lot.’
It was around this time that Jack was studying at Nottingham Trent University, and he seems to have enjoyed being involved with the football set up during his time there. ‘There were some of the best team atmospheres and some of the biggest games I have ever experienced. The coaching and facilities were top drawer. Alessandro Barcherini is one of the best and most passionate coaches I have had the pleasure of playing under. His appetite to learn and develop players is second to none.
‘I played alongside my commitments at Barwell, which was difficult to say the least. I captained the side to Varsity, League and Cup victories. We played against other Universities and the standard was very good. The best teams in the UK are traditionally Loughborough, Bath and Durham, so we did well during my time there. A lot of money goes into them in the way of scholarships and such like, and it is a great way to get a career having left full time football.’
On to Barwell then. There seems to be a pattern emerging here with clubs that Leamington have had some scraps with over the years, some good, some bad. There was certainly an edge to our games against Barwell in the MFA days, mainly due to the fact that we thumped them 4-0 on their own patch just a few weeks before facing them in the League Cup Final at Walsall’s Bescot Stadium, in which they triumphed 3-1, and didn’t they enjoy rubbing our noses in it. Their manager at the time was Bob Steel, who was later their P.A man bizarrely. I remember him trying to taunt us during a 3-1 Boxing Day defeat there several years back. We had the last laugh on him as a manager the season after their cup win though, ripping the trophy out of their hands by knocking them out in the first round (and going on to win it), while completing the league double over them.
Jack signs for Barwell along with some other bloke. Look, there’s Martin Hier!
Jimmy Ginnelly has always seemed to be a ‘bad guy’ in the eyes of some Brakes fans, but for the life of me I can’t remember why. Looking at his managerial career he has only done good things, first with Stockingford AA in the local leagues, before rejuvenating Atherstone Town, getting them back into the Southern League where they competed fiercely with ourselves and Nuneaton back in 2008/2009 in the Midland Division, eventually losing out to Chasetown in the play offs. No doubt James Mace and Jamie Hood would have good things to say about Jimmy, having played under him at Atherstone, and Jack is no different.
‘Barwell have always been a difficult team to play against, regardless of manager or players. Jimmy was great to me. He took a gamble on a young lower league player. I played against Barwell in the year they went unbeaten on their way to the Midland Alliance title. The invincibles under Marcus Law, so I felt the pressure of joining a club like that. I remember meeting Jimmy and Martin Hier at TGI Fridays in Coventry as a spotty 20 year old, all very daunting.
‘Jimmy is a people manager and knows his players. I played under some very good coaches whilst there and that’s what Jimmy has done well, surrounded himself with good backroom staff. Guy Hadland and Richard Lavery had a massive influence over my playing style in that time. I saw their guts and determination in the twilight of their careers and wanted to replicate it.’
I ask whether anything stands out from his time at Barwell, mentioning the utterly bizarre 6-0 scoreline at the New Windmill in our Southern League title winning season of 2012/2013 as I am sure that it will be up there!
‘We couldn’t quite believe our luck. I played left back and didn’t cross the halfway line. It was a big occasion for us and me, I hadn’t been in the the team long but nervous energy and in particular Richard Lavery, won us the game. I think he scored two that day and while I played with him in his twilight he still remains one of the best players/leaders I have played with. He was one of the most fired up players who dragged his team through. Top bloke off the pitch too, believe it or not.’
‘I cannot remember a single goal in my time at Barwell. I played in defence for the majority of my time there so that was the mindset for me.’
Fast forward to the end of the following season, and Leamington have achieved Conference North safety in their first campaign at Step 2 since the mid 1980’s. (Albeit the make up of the non league pyramid has changed significantly during that time). Jack was one of the first players signed by Paul Holleran during the close season as he earned the chance to step up once more.
‘It was hard leaving Barwell because my family were fond of the club. I took a lot of direction from Guy and Jimmy and have always been quite cautious throughout my career. I am yet to decide whether the cautious approach has got me further or held me back from playing higher.
The introduction was owed to Luke Fogarty, who never let me forget how many trips he made into Leicestershire to watch me play. Thanks Foggo!’
Jack admits that he found the step up from Northern Premier League football tough to begin with, allied to the fact that it was a tumultuous season for Brakes, with us going through many players, seven goalkeepers and eventually being relegated. Not the best of starts at a new club?
‘It was frustrating to begin with. Served me well though. Life without Tony Breeden is not worth thinking about!’
Jack gradually worked his way from the substitutes bench to become a regular starter, chipping in with a few goals too, his first coming in a 1-1 draw at home to Boston United.
The following season as we adjusted to life back in the Southern League did not begin well for Jack as he was sent off along with Joe Magunda in our second game in, a 1-0 defeat at St Neots. The discipline was a problem for the whole squad in those early months to be fair, and though Jack saw red again as the season progressed, he argues that it would be detrimental to him as a player to try and change the way he approaches games.
Time out after a goal….
‘I am always learning but go into every game knowing I will be playing on the edge and if I was to change that I wouldn’t be the player I am. The biggest thing I can continue to improve is my management of referees. Some of the best pro’s talk the referee through a situation and I must remember that there are times to back down from an argument. Passion is great but it needs to be channelled.’
I wonder how Jack rates his time at Leamington compared to the other clubs he has played for.
‘My career has been a steady upward curve in terms of calibre of club. When I joined I said “if I can stay here for 10 years I will be very happy with my career”. There are fantastic people at Leamington (back room and staff), and the best teammates and management.’
Unsurprisingly the last season (2016/17) comes up when I ask about highlights of his initial 3 seasons with us.
‘My memory is synonymously bad for games and goals. Fortunately Leamington has one of the best media teams around and has captured many of my finest moments on film. Thanks Nick Leek!
Conclusive proof that the Cinderford goal was struck from almost half way..
‘The majority of stand out moments came in the 16/17 season: Sky Sports, Soccer AM and the title of Non League Beckham superseded any expectations. I don’t think I’ll ever top that.’
Celebrating THAT goal
And so to this summer, and Soiled Hole Bores. Jack was confident he could have a good crack at the step up, saying ‘I’ve had the ideal start to Moors life; I’m injury free, fit as I can be and playing against some very strong first teams (some players that I watched as a kid).
Your loss mate……..
Leyton Orient was a great place to make my National League debut, however, not playing on the Saturday did not do us any favours. It’s important to get rid of first day nerves and the O’s were out to redeem themselves after losing their first game.’
‘I was confident before. I’m even more confident now pre season and the first game are out the way. I knew I needed to be fit and I am in the shape of my life so bodes well.’
Sadly, for one reason or another, and we’ll leave it at that, things didn’t go to plan, and after just 4 starts and 2 substitute appearances, Jack returned to Leamington where he knows he is valued and loved, to the delight of everyone. He seems pretty happy about it too!
He wasted no time in getting stuck back into life in Gold and Black, with a couple of bookings and a goal in his first three games! He will undoubtedly improve us again as a team, while still having the target of establishing himself and Leamington in the Conference North. It’s good to have you back, Jack!
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