David Barber is The FA's historian and a football 'superfan' having attended nearly 7,000 games.
It was another weekend in the Midlands for 'The Barber' and another new ground.
This time it was the Central Ground in Sutton Coldfield, shared by Sutton Coldfield Town and Romulus, who both play in the Northern Premier League’s First Division South. Aston Villa Ladies also play there.
Action in the Romulus v Stafford Rangers game
My Saturday match was Romulus v Stafford Rangers. I reached it via a six-minute train journey from Smethwick Rolfe Street to Birmingham New Street, an 18-minute ride from New Street to Sutton Coldfield and a walk of about 15 minutes to the ground.
They have a huge stand and two bits of standing cover and a decent crowd of 232 on a dull afternoon – mostly Stafford fans, I think – saw the home side win with a header from a long throw five minutes before the break.
Stafford got to Wembley three times in the 1970s, playing in The FA Trophy Finals of ’72 (won), ’76 (lost) and ’79 (won). I went to the last of those.
In recent years they have suffered three relegations, dropping down from the top tier of non-League football. They are now pushing for a play-off spot, but worrying for them, they had now failed to score in four consecutive matches.
They did everything but score in the first half on Saturday, finding Romulus’s new ‘keeper in inspiring form. His display was faultless – and he even saved a Stafford spot-kick ten minutes from time.
The home No.4 also caught the eye, missing nothing in the air and notching the all-important goal. Romulus may have been holding on at the end – during added time there were shouts from the stand imploring the referee to end proceedings – but they will take a lot of encouragement from that victory.
It was an unusual ground, with new elements (including a 3G pitch) alongside old elements. There was a little building in one corner with the sign “Sutton Coldfield Sub-Aqua Club” at the top. So this was a place where they positively encouraged diving!
The diving club at Sutton Coldfield
The following morning I took the short walk to Thimblemill Rec in search of some Sunday League action. Initially it looked promising, with the nets up, the corner flags in place and a number of cars in the car park.
That was at 10.15. But by 11 o’clock I had seen no sign of any footballers. The only person there was the groundsman. “Is there any football this morning?” “I’ve no idea”, he said. The cars turned out to belong to people visiting the cemetery across the road.
I had a couple of matches at Market Road last Thursday. Circle Line beat Trans Plant 6-2 in the London Underground League and Regent Rovers edged a nine-goal thriller against Arya in the Islington Midweek League’s Premier Division. I didn’t hear anyone in the crowd (of four) calling out “Who Arya?”
This week I’ve already seen Wealdstone v Gosport Borough in the Conference South (3-0), London Tigers v Cockfosters in the Spartan South Midlands League (0-2) and Chelsea v Spurs in an FA Youth Cup Semi-Final second leg (5-2) to bring me up to 6,800 matches. A bit of a milestone, I suppose.
