24 Minutes to Tulse Hill

My plans to overdose on football over Christmas were dealt a cruel blow by the remaining snow. I had been looking forward to a traditional Boxing Day visit to Orient and that bit the dust early on. That was a wee frustrating as having decided to cut back on Orient the times I actually want to seem to be cursed. I imagine that Dagenham & Redbridge fans were even more disappointed after having been told that their game was definitely on after a pitch inspection on Christmas Eve. That proved to be an incurable case of optimism or an attack of the stupids. In planning the games I was going see over Christmas I had tried to make sure that I would go to new places and see new teams but in the end there wasn't much choice. I had been to Carshalton for the first time back in September as I rediscovered the charms of non-league football and although I had enjoyed the game against Tunbridge Wells in the FA Cup I hadn't planned on going back any time soon. However once the Tooting-Kingstonian derby was postponed Carshalton's game against Sutton United was the only realistic alternative.

Talking Benelux

My plans for a footballmungous Christmas now lie in tatters. The postponement of Barkingside's league game against Barking last Wednesday was the thin end of the wedge. Since then my planned entertainment at Crawley was frozen off (though I was already viewing the pub as a more favourable destination so wasn't too disappointed. However the relatively small amount of snow we had in East London on Friday morning was enough to make me think that a game was going to a bit of a miracle on Saturday. Saturday morning brought 'proper' snowfall and I began to wonder when I will next get to a game. The 3 games I was thinking of for tonight all went out of the window a long time ago  and I have just found out the match between Dulwich Hamlet and Romford has been unsurprisingly called off already. In fact I have just about given up on anything before Boxing Day and I'm not too hopeful there either. At some point on Boxing Day I will have to decide whether or not to abandon my trip to Lancashire. This has a dual purpose of seeing some football; but also allowing me to step foot in the town of my birth 35 years or so since I left. Sentiments will be put to one side. If football is looking more likely in Rymanlandia is looking more likely than Chorley or Preston then I will bin the trip for another, more clement, time.

Anyway. I already had a ridiculous football trip this year.

It'll be Football this Christmas

Leatherhead open the scoring against Eastbourne Town with a very  yellow ball

My familial arrangements this Christmas see me home alone and absolved of the kind of responsibilities that prevent me getting to large numbers of games. I am now recovering from what was for me a new record of 4 games in 4 days. While I wouldn't yet call myself a groundhopper I added 3 new grounds to my tally and a goodly number of goals. It would have been more if Barkingside weren't seemingly intent of breaking some sort of postponement record this season. Over the Christmas period I am going to try to recount some of the games I've been to both over Christmas and earlier in the season and why I've chosen them. I am still getting to grips with a new camera and if I can avoid too much blur will post of few pics as well.