Germane Pennant?

The mid season demise of Leyton FC set me to thinking. Since I caught the non league bug again this season I have been trying to get to places I haven't been before. I hadn't seen a game at Leyton's ground since the club that played there was known as Leyton-Wingate. I had been meaning to get to see Leyton but each weekend found a game I would rather be at. Now I'll have to see who ends up playing at the Hare & Hounds next season. So in the meantime I thought I'd better get to some games while some of the other local teams are still around. It seemed apt that I should scamper along to a Waltham Forest match quick smart. Waltham Forest is the amalgam of non league teams left in that borough after the juggernaut that eventually became Dagenham & Redbridge left town. It has always irked me that although half the teams that make up that merger of merger were from Waltham Forest that was ignored in the name. So it is left to Waltham Forest to fly the flag. Although I had seen Leyton-Wingate in the past on a number of occasions and had managed to see Walthamstow Pennant a couple of times I hadn't seen this incarnation of the club before. Logically enough they currently play in the borough Redbridge where the share the not much loved (as far as I can tell) Cricklefield Stadium.

Hamlet Moment vs Sitting Bull

I am looking for a London non league side to take an interest in. Unfortunately most of the East London sides seem a bit too depressing. I am happy to go along to Ilford or Redbridge but it doesn't really light my fire. I hadn't been to see Leyton since the club that played at the Hare and Hounds was known as Leyton-Wingate and I have now missed the opportunity to see the most recent inhabitants of the other Leyton Stadium. Non league football south of the river seems to be a little less moribund and Dulwich Hamlet have always interested me. Maybe it's the history but more likely I just like the name and the unusual kit.

Surrey I Haven't a Clue

I had been tempted to go to bed early and ignore the New Year but having waited until midnight to see the it in and catch a short snippet of Jools Holland's hootabloodynanny I decided to reward myself with a visit to Sutton. It was a grey, grey day but the clangour of St Paul's as I strolled towards City Thameslink (such an evocative name for a station, they really should have stuck with Ludgate Circus) put me in a proper New Yearsy kinda mood. As previously mentioned Sutton United do evoke a certain cup romance due to their giantkilling exploits against Coventry City over 20 years ago and although most of the terraces behind the goals have gone it is still recognisably the same ground. Train timetables meant I had plenty of time to hoover up the atmosphere. Sutton certainly seems to be a proper community club where everyone knows each other but this South London/Surrey derby against Tooting & Mitcham United obviously doesn't hold quite the same attraction as the Carshalton-Sutton one. Nevertheless the Tooting travelling fans were out in force and unlike Sutton at Carshalton made a very good job of making themselves heard all through the game. Before the game though we got treated to Sutton's mascot:

This is Jenny, she is a giraffe. That is all the explanation I have.