One-Nil Desperandum

 

Hopperational Details
Dates & Venues	Tue 22 & Wed 23 September 2026 at Boreham Wood FC & AFC Wimbledon FC respectively
Results	Arsenal 1 HB Køge 0 Chelsea 1 Austria Wien 0
Competition	Women’s Champions League Group Stage
Hopstats	Neither are new grounds on my lifetime list. My fifth and third visits respectively.
Context
First games of the group stage for both teams. England’s third entrant, Manchester City, drew 2-2 away at Bayern Munich in the same competition. Chelsea got here through a qualification route in which they comfortably saw off Real Sociedad
Match Reports
Both games have been well covered already including live TV coverage so I am restricting myself to headlines and comment. Arsenal needed a stoppage time penalty from substitute Mariona Caldentey to get this win. The Danish team had defended valiantly as Arsenal, not for the first time this season, struggled to turn their dominance into goals. Chelsea won with an early goal from Wieke Kaptein, and a very satisfying in-off-the-bar thunderbolt it was too. However, similarity in scoreline does not really tell the whole story. Both sides had attempted to rest a number of key players ahead of their league showdown this coming weekend.   Arsenal’s style is predominantly patient, possession-controlling with repeated recycling of the ball across the back line and midfield. Their excellent support, much the best numerically of any in the women’s game at the moment, has learned to be patient. The strength in depth of their squad is bound to mean that they will be challenging for honours again this season. Keeping all those internationals and future internationals happy is going to be more of a problem. Meadow Park had just under 2000 in attendance. A lot of teams will be setting up defensively against them and maybe there is a debate to be had about playing more of a percentage game and getting the ball into danger areas quicker. I don’t by any means study football tactics and stats in detail, so I don’t have a strong view. All I can say is that from the point of view of the passing neutral, this was compelling entertainment with a late dramatic twist. Chelsea are equally capable of that same style but on this occasion they were often more direct, using Melvine Malard as a back-to-the-goal target. Kaptein’s goal was well executed, but then the evening got more and more tense. Chelsea lost Keira Walsh to injury, and the game was probably more open than they would have wanted. Austria Wien showed some attacking ambition and they had some really clear chances. The final whistle was something of a relief for the home side and just under 1000 supporters. There were just a few rumblings of discontent near the end, directed at the management. Again, the sheer depth of their squad means that Chelsea will be up there in the trophy hunt. The ground felt a lot more empty though the core support kept up a decent string of songs occasionally orchestrated by Basil the well-known superfan. Fair play to him. Again, a good watch for the neutral with the result right in doubt to the very end. I suspect Chelsea fans are more frustrated than Arsenal’s this morning. So, both teams have three points from a group stage game, with some rested players and some minutes for squad players. Job done. Enough positives to take. Some of the other French and Spanish sides were piling up goals elsewhere so there are much, much sterner tests ahead. The next one is on Sunday at Stamford Bridge. The result of that game might arguably already decide one of the automatic Champions League spots for next season.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
The background to this, and the latest keeper top colour league table, is here on this dedicated page. Meadow Park – Grey beats Green, with a clean sheet. Wimbledon – Green beats Orange, with a clean sheet. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win & Home Win Was the prediction correct? Yes & Yes % of correct predictions so far 48% (111 from 230)
What Next?
Something (as yet undecided) on Saturday before the aforementioned WSL clash between Chelsea & Arsenal women on Sunday. I will certainly try to get to some more midweek women's euro games if work commitments allow. Stamford Bridge is to host the "home" games for Shaktar Donetsk of Ukraine in the weeks and months ahead if anyone is looking for a novel way to tick off that ground in their 92!

Board or Bored Game, You Decide

Here’s the latest in my series of posts on traditional board games with a football theme. My copy of League Championship, which I have picked up at some point from eBay or a car boot sale, is somewhat battered, and the trophy is missing. So a photocredit here goes to the boardgamegeek.com website for an image of what I am missing! It must date from the early 1970s.

 

In all honesty it’s hard to get excited about this one. For those of us of a certain age, the most interesting thing is the image of the football on the reverse of the circular playing board. In my part of the world (the Black Country) these were known as “caseballs” or “caseys” for some reason, as opposed to the moulded plastic lightweight alternatives.

I understand that in the very latest editions of the game, the ball image became the one with the black-and-white regular pentagons. There was also a special edition from 1974 labelled with Leeds United who were First Division champions. This seems to be identical in all respects other than the free Leeds United team poster inside the box.

The company producing this game is Sportslink Limited, who seem to have long since gone. The endorsements are from Gordon Banks (Stoke City and England goalkeeper for any youngsters reading this) and George Best (Manchester United and Northern Ireland). These two would have been icons of the game at that time, although Banks was on the verge of retirement following an eye injury sustained in a car accident. They are clearly recognisable among the otherwise generic images on the front of the box, and their autographs appear on the edge of the box lid.

As for the game … put your footballer figure (they are all plain white, presumably so you could paint them) and your token in the right place on the board, and take it in turns to roll a die, move your pieces, take cards, obey the instructions, work out who won the “match” and move your pieces again. Standard stuff, and hard to see where any skill or judgement is needed. At first glance, this game seems to be in the same category as ludo or snakes and ladders. As the game progresses, your pieces converge on the trophy in the centre of the board.

The only other thing worthy of comment is that one player (on the basis of dice rolls) is appointed as referee, and gets a little black book of rules.

There are a few copies on eBay for optimistic prices, as ever with these things, and the Leeds United one seems to be more valuable. I can't imagine George Best ever choosing to play a game of League Championship on a Saturday evening instead of the alternatives that were available to him in his heyday. Allegedly. Actually, to be fair, by his own admission I think.

Thanks for your interest in this series, there will be a few more to come during the season.

Links to previous football game posts on this blog:

Wembley

Soccerama

Soccerboss

Emlyn Hughes’ Team Tactix

Penalty!

Kevin Keegan’s Matchday

The Manager (Terry Venables)

Roy of the Rovers

 

Nuts and Bolts Can't Hold It Together at Croydon Athletic

 

Must be one of the better programmes at this level

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 19 September 2026 at The Mayfield Stadium
Result	AFC Croydon Athletic 3 Ashford United 1
Competition	Isthmian League Division One South-East (Step 4)
Hopstats	Ground #821 on the lifetime list and I’m here for non-random pragmatic reasons today. This is my closest unvisited ground in Steps 2-4 and I let the train (and tram) take the strain.
Context
8th entertains 12th though the three-point difference comes from one game more, so the two sides have a similar league record so far. In nicknames, this is The Rams v The Nuts and Bolts.
Match Report
It was a tetchy start. An Ashford player stayed down for a full minute after a tackle but the referee allowed play to continue. His decision was vindicated when the player needed no treatment and was soon running around again, but a confrontational tone had been set. The atmosphere soured even more for the away team when a straight red card was shown to Sam Hasler for a mistimed lunge with only five minutes gone. However, United took the lead from the penalty spot after 15 minutes. Louis Collins was body-checked in a one-on-one situation by the onrushing home keeper Amadou Tangara, who escaped with a yellow card, moving the ref another few places down the Ashford Christmas card list. Collins did the honours himself from the kick.   Tangara goes left, Collins goes down the middle. 0-1. Croydon continued with their patient buildup play and were level five minutes later. Greg Cundle was able to take a touch and send a low shot into the bottom right-hand corner. Good finish. In the remainder of the first half, Croydon struggled to make the extra player count. They kept possession well but players just seemed more comfortable with the easy recycling option. Ashford had a good chance of their own on the break, Collins shooting just wide. Then, just before the break, Croydon’s Cian McCarthy led with his elbow in an aerial challenge. It was a yellow card, and he’d already picked one up a few minutes earlier so out came the red to follow. It would be 10 v 10 in the second half. I don’t have too many notes from the next 30 minutes. For my money, Ashford were slightly more likely to score. They hit the post once and had several other half-chances, including a backheel attempt that didn’t fool Tangara. The result was sealed with two home goals in quick succession that took the wind out of any Ashford sails. Josh Williams showed perseverance on the left flank and put a good cross on to the head of David Boateng who couldn’t miss. It was Croydon’s first real chance of the second half, on 76 minutes. Then almost immediately Williams used his strength to win the ball from a defender and he kept his composure to score and secure the points. So, an odd game, not as comfortable as a 3-1 scoreline might suggest, and a fair afternoon’s entertainment for this passing neutral.
So What?
Croydon Athletic are up to 5th, Ashford United down to 14th but it’s still that part of the season when some clubs have played fewer matches than others due to the impact of the FA Cup and FA Trophy precedence.
Pre-match Entertainment
Getting lost in Croydon Cemetery! Any future hoppers are advised to research the route carefully, especially for an evening kickoff. I made the mistake of trusting Google Maps (normally reliable to be fair). Whatever you do, don’t take the tram from East Croydon to Therapia Avenue and walk through Croydon Cemetery like I did. There is no proper entry to the ground by that route, just a teasing view of the turnstiles through a 2m metal fence. I ended up with a 40-minute detour. A walk of about 20-25 minutes is better done by taking the 60 or 109 bus from Streatham station, and that’s how I got home after the game. There may well be other reasonable routes, but plan yours in advance. It’s a longish walk down a single-track gravel road for the last part of the route. The photo below is where I'd pitched up before doubling back - and from the state of the fence maybe I'm not the first, but the image does not really show how steep that bank is!   Entrance to the ground as per Google Maps!
Pix
Ashford United in unambiguous (see below) Green.
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
The background to this, and the latest keeper top colour league table, is here on this dedicated page. Today, I had to think very hard about classifying the home keeper (Amadou Tangara). In the end I decided that Sage has to go with Green but this is a definite outlier in the keeper top colour world. The away keeper (Jordan Gilmon) lined up in pale Blue. I've put this (Sage?) in the Green group. No appeals allowed. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Home Win Was the prediction correct? Yes % of correct predictions so far 48% (109 from 228)
What Next?
@ModusHRandom on Twitter will reveal my next game as I do not yet have a definite plan. I might try to sneak another game in today before I take in two Women’s Champions League group stage games (Arsenal and Chelsea) in midweek.

 

Roy of the Rovers on the Board

My copy of this Roy of the Rovers board game is dated 1990. It's produced by Triotoys and Paradigm Games of Basingstoke, under licence from Fleetway publications who produced the comics and annuals of the same name. I wasn't a regular reader of the comic during my own childhood, but I gather that the dedicated comic started up in 1976 and continued until 1995. The character of Roy Race and the Melchester Rovers team go back to the 1950s when they first appeared in the Tiger comic. The dramatic storylines of the comic strip have not transferred to the board game. Every so often there have been relaunches or re-workings of the material and characters, including one where Roy is a manager and his son Rocky is on the pitch. It looks as if a video games company, Rebellion, have at least some of the rights now and there is a website and, of course, merchandise.

Meanwhile, back to my board game. It's a bit battered, but it looks unused and after this post is published it will be on the way to a charity shop. I suspect I picked it up either from eBay or a car boot sale. Indeed there are still some around on eBay, pitched as collectors' items and some with very optimistic asking prices. "For 2-6 Players Aged 5-105", it says.

Like some of the other games in my series of nostalgia boardgame posts - see below for links to the others - it dates from a time before games consoles and personal computers. Having scanned the rules, I would say this one has a lowish ratio of skill to luck in determining the outcome. I would also guess that with two players it would be rather dreary with all the temptations of dubious practices, within the rules, as we may be allegedly seeing in the real world in this era of multi-club ownership.

The board is a jigsaw type. The Bank of Melchester only deals in multiples of £250,000. The stand-up playing pieces are the best feature of the box contents. The game mechanics are familiar. Collect the right combination of players, but some of them are worth more than others. Collect gate receipts. There is one square on the board, "Sacked", which could have led to some interesting confrontations with family and friends. Land on that, and any one of the other players can swop their players with yours. I wonder how many friendships were ended over that.

I should also mention the six teams - you will manage one of the following: Touring Real, Sporting Perez, Dynamo Celtic, San Sebastian, Bayern Dortmund or, of course, Melchester Rovers. If you have Melchester, then you are the only one allowed to have Roy of the Rovers in your team. Everyone else has to return him to the bottom of the pile. This is in accordance with mainstream Race canon - Roy was a one-club man except for a short stint with Walford Rovers as I am sure you will remember.

Thanks for your interest in this series, there will be a few more to come during the season.

Links to previous football game posts on this blog:

Wembley

Soccerama

Soccerboss

Emlyn Hughes’ Team Tactix

Penalty!

Kevin Keegan’s Matchday

The Manager (Terry Venables)

 

Two Ghoul Defeat for the Ghosts

 

Hopperational Details
Date & Venue	Saturday 12 September 2026 at The Daly Group Stadium, Clipbush Lane
Result	Fakenham Town 0 Waltham Abbey 2
Competition	FA Trophy 2nd Round Qualifying
Hopstats	Ground 820 on the lifetime list, and I am here randomishly because Aune Heggebø scored the only goal of the game as WBA won at Derby a few days ago. I wanted to choose from 11 unvisited grounds – the home teams were linked alphabetically to the 11 WBA players on the pitch at any given time. The rules and details are on the image below. Why West Bromwich? Well, I was born there, and although I’m not an active supporter these days, it’s always their result I’m looking for first.
Context
This is a knockout game between two Step 4 sides. Fakenham (The Ghosts) came up from the Eastern Counties league playoffs last season and are in the Isthmian League Division One North. Waltham Abbey were in that division last season but have been transferred to the Southern League Division One Central.
Match Report
The game started at a lively pace, both teams able to try some slick moves on a good playing surface. They traded half-chances before the game settled a bit, but largely these two sides cancelled each other out before the danger areas. The odd freekick was due to mistiming or overenthusiasm rather than cynicism. Some of the visiting support began to show impatience at repeated recycling of the ball by their team. Almost immediately a good move down the right created the best chance of the half so far but Jayden Wright was in a good place to clear the ball. Fakenham were somewhat more direct in style and a good run by their fullback Oser Okpiahbele led to a shot going just wide. So the first half ended scoreless, with plenty of effort on both sides but clear chances at a premium. Waltham Abbey started the second half well, with two chances for Jake Watts. They continued to be better at keeping possession and on the hour mark I noted that they probably should have been ahead by now. Indeed, the realistic and seasoned home supporters around me were beginning to comment that it was just a matter of time, and so it proved. The first goal came on 73 minutes, hooked in by sub Steve Cawley after a corner which itself had followed a period of sustained pressure. Abbey nearly got an immediate second with a header after another slick move. Fakenham were not finished yet and they created two half-chances of their own, but a second Abbey goal from the penalty spot put the result beyond doubt. Prince Domafriye scored from the spot after a handball. A fair result on balance of play, says this passing neutral.
So What?
Time for Fakenham to concentrate on the league, as they say. Waltham Abbey go into the proverbial hat, and they have a big FA Cup game against Dagenham & Redbridge coming up too next weekend.
Pre-match Entertainment
Nothing apart from a sausage sandwich. I got caught up in the traffic around Duxford Air Show en route and my GPS alternative suggestion made things worse with gridlock in narrow lanes, so I ended up with a three-hour drive and no spare time.
Pix
Fakenham in yellow-and-black (and with a mysterious club crest).
Goalkeeper Top Colour Stats Update
The background to this, and the latest keeper top colour league table, is here on this dedicated page. Today, the rarity of Blue (Luke Pearson) v Blue (Bradley Robinson), albeit different shades thereof. #keepertopcolourstats predictions are on a terrible run at the moment although the percentage success has never varied that much from 50%. The whole sample (>370) including those games before the predictions started is still probably not statistically significant enough for the mathematical testing required. Pre-match Prediction based on Keeper Top Colour: Prediction: Draw Was the prediction correct? No % of correct predictions so far 48% (108 from 227)
What Next?
Hopefully another ground from my priority list next Saturday, but whether it is a random selection or a pragmatic one will depend on the weather forecast.