Season 2023/24 - That's a wrap.

Handsworth's 2023/24 season has finished so I decided I'd let you have my thoughts. I know it's been a good 6 weeks since my last blog entry but I never promised a weekly newsletter!

The season has been a tough one with lots of ups and downs but that's largely true of most seasons. However, for me there are a lot of positives to take.

The Ambers will finish in 14th place unless Barton Town lose both games remaining from their heavy end of season backlog when Handsworth would finish 13th. Either way, we'll end the season 2 or 3 positions higher and 2 points better off than in season 2022/23. Given this was the first season for the new management team of Jon Froggatt and Mark Ward who assembled, essentially, a new squad, I think that's not a bad effort at all.

The team got off to a bit of a flyer before injuries and unavailability issues began to creep in, meaning it wasn't generally possible to select the same starting eleven from one week to the next. Long term injuries to major players like Mitch Dunne, Leon Howarth, Tom Bishop and young Rion Arbouin hampered the options in team selection but Jon and Mark, helped later in the season by Lee Thompson and Tom Crosby as coaches, steadied the good ship SS Ambers and set us on a course for better things.

It was heartbreaking to see Rion Arbouin's season end as it did. The lad had worked so hard for 6 months or so to get back to fitness only to see a recurrence of the injury after just a couple  of games back in the squad. Still, I'm sure he'll remember a special moment when he scored the winning penalty in a County Senior Cup shoot out against Sheffield FC from the division above Handsworth.

Rion is mobbed by his delighted teammates after scoring the winning penalty

One of the notable things in a rollercoaster season was the introduction of some of the younger lads from the Under-21 and Reserves side in the final few games of the season. All did a good job and will hopefully progress to more 1st team games in the new season.

The best example of youth player progression occurred when 16-year old goalkeeper Tom Hill was given his 1st team debut when The Ambers played their last game of the season at Barton Town. Unfortunately, I wasn't there to photograph the occasion but reports say the lad did very well, as evidenced by the clean sheet in a 0-0 draw. You can read more about the game in Ian Robinson's match report. Click the link.

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/teams/126071/match-centre/1-14094734/report

There's not a lot else to say so here's looking forward to pre-season training and fixtures. They'll be here before we know it!

COYA!! 🧡🖤⚽👊

(The blog might appear again during our 2-week fishing holiday at Elmhirst Lakes in Horncastle, Lincolnshire (early June) and we hope to get to see some local cricket over the summer so please keep checking back for updates!)

Taking The Long Way Home...

Yesterday, we decided that we'd take in The Ambers away game at Barton Town. A nice day. A ground we'd not been to before and despite it being a longer journey than we would usually undertake, we decided it'd make a nice change!

Well, it certainly did that!

Since I am a little paranoid about being late for anything and because I like to try to ensure there's a parking spot when we arrive, we set off around noon. Route Finders and Google Earth suggested it was about a 1.1/2 hour drive from Nortoner Towers. It actually took us an hour and 40 minutes because, again, as ever on these longer drives, I had to make a pit stop for a pee at the services on the M18/M180 junction.

Anyway, as we parked on the car park, we were met with the news that the game was off due to an unplayable pitch!

We entered the stadium for a look (and another pee) and we were surprised to see that the pitch looked in almost perfect shape. However, we learned from the Ambers lads in the bar that the referee had called it off after, as he was walking the pitch before the warm ups, his foot sank to around ankle-depth in a couple of the 3 or 4 areas where the pitch was very damp.

Barton Town have lost several home fixtures to the weather this season and there was some speculation that they didn't want to lose another with the season end date set for 6th April so they perhaps took a chance on not calling for a morning pitch inspection, hoping that the match referee would give the go ahead. That's no more than speculation of course.

Pity, because from what we saw,  the Easy Buy Stadium looks a good set up with a nice, flat pitch and a clean, well-equipped clubhouse and facilities.

I'd decided that I'd wear my Handsworth "3rd kit" shirt to see if that broke the run of bad luck we've been enduring. Obviously - that didn't work either although as someone pointed out - Handsworth didn't drop points to a last minute goal this weekend! 🤣

So - what to do instead? We initially decided that we'd drive across to the RSPB site at Blacktoft Sands and do a spot of birdwatching but then we came up with what we thought was a much better idea. We'd head for Cleethorpes for fish and chips before going home.

It's a 35 minute drive according to sat nav and after a couple of slightly wrong turns (thanks sat nav) we arrived to find Cleethorpes was, basically, full!! We couldn't find a parking space apart from a couple that were about three quarters of a mile outside the town and much as I love fish and chips, I wasn't going to walk a round trip of a mile and a half for them.

I then realised that Horncastle is only about 45 minutes south of Cleethorpes and having holidayed there over several years before I retired, we knew the fish & chip shop/restaurant in the market square was a very good one so we'd nip down there. The drive took a few minutes longer than estimated because we followed a tractor for about 3 miles.

However, we got to Horncastle to find the fish restaurant was closed until 1st April for refurbishment!

Plan C. There's a lovely bar/restaurant at Tattershall, right next to the entrance to Tattershall Lakes caravan park. We've eaten at the place in the past and the food was good and it's only 20 minutes from Horncastle so we drove down there.

It was very busy and despite not booking, they managed to squeeze us in. Our dinner was steak pie, chips and  veggies and I have to say that the food was very good although we both felt that it was a little overpriced. Certainly a lot more expensive than when we ate there last. To be fair, that was "pre-COVID" - 2018 but even so. Pricey!

After our meal, we set off on the 70-odd mile drive home. That was largely uneventful and we eventually pulled into our drive at 7:45pm. Tired but oddly, happy with the events of our very, very unusual Saturday.

I opened this blog by saying the drive to Barton - about a 130 mile round trip - was further than we'd normally go to watch football. When we arrived home yesterday, the trip meter showed I'd driven 225 miles in the 7.1/2 hours we'd been out of the house!

It certainly made a change but not quite the one we planned! Still, as someone said, unplanned days are often the best!! Won't be doing it every weekend though!

Next up for Handsworth is a trip to Golcar on Saturday 23rd March. We can't make that one but we'll hopefully be at the 2 games that follow. A Senior Cup 1/4 final v Rossington at Olivers Mount on the 27th followed by a home league game v Pickering Town on the 30th.

Three games in a week leaves 2 more league fixtures and maybe more cup games if we beat Rossington. Then there's the Barton game to be rescheduled.

A busy end to the season for sure!

(And no pictures on this one. Sorry - never even thought about photos! 🙄)

COYA!! 🧡🖤⚽👊

Beginning to think it's me that's a jinx...

Wednesday, 6th March 2024. A "first" happened. Watching Handsworth lose out 0-3 to Albion Sports, I actually packed the camera away and didn't photograph most of the 2nd half. In fact, I didn't even watch much of the second half at all. I suppose I could have made a Flickr album as usual from the shots I got in the first half but my heart and my head weren't in it. I can't recall ever feeling as despondent after a game as I did after this one.

Disappointment and frustration were the main reasons. Albion Sports are a good side but they "scored" 2 own goals and Handsworth had a goal ruled out for offside. It seems we're just not getting any of the breaks this season. 

Our squad has a long injury list and this game was another example of what managers Jon Froggatt and Mark Ward are having to cope with. Injuries, illness and unavailability due to work commitments has meant they've rarely been able to field their strongest 11 in almost all games since the early part of the season. 

Wednesday's game was fairly typical. At least 5 players who would probably be expected to start weren't available. The side we put out played well enough against strong opposition but with nothing to  show for it. 

What's bothering me is that we've been to 5 games in the last 6 weeks (3 first team and 2 reserves) and in 4 of them, The Ambers have conceded a late goal resulting in a loss or a draw. 

I'm sick of saying "You deserved more lads" if I'm honest.

I'm now seriously wondering if I am some sort of jinx! It's got to be soul destroying for the players when we drop points to last minute goals like against Rossington and Frickley. The reserves too have had last minute disappointments with defeats at home to Sheffield City and Silkstone Utd. The common denominator in all of these disappointments is that I was there with the camera! Hmmm!

One of the bright spots from Wednesday was the performance of young Leiwi Abraham who has joined Handsworth on a month long loan from Rotherham United. A sort of "work experience" deal. He looks like a good player and the bonus is, he's a lovely lad. Here's a shot of him in action.

Next up is another tough game. This time we are at home to Tadcaster who beat us 5-1 at their place in early February (although I can't take the blame for that one. I wasn't there!) 

Taddy have had their struggles too this season but the current form tables show they've taken 7 points from their last 6 games against Handsworth's 4 points from their last 6. That suggests it could be a tight game but who knows? A lot depends on what sort of side Mark and Jon can put out on the day I guess.

I've decided to give it another go and take the camera to record the game. We'll have to see what happens but if I'm really honest, I can't wait for the season to end.

COYA 🧡🖤⚽👊

To Blog or not To Blog. That was the question...

Turned out "Not to Blog" was the answer.

My last post was on 20th January. Since then, I've "celebrated" my 74th birthday, our son Mark has celebrated his 50th. Both events are reminders that I'm getting on a bit. Or more accurately, I've got on a bit.

To be frank - I haven't really felt like posting. 'Can't be arsed" about sums it up and I have absolutely no idea why I decided to type this new post now.

Anyway... The non-league football season progresses toward it's end and for some reason, it seems to have been a particularly long one. We've been to around 40 games this season, the majority  involving Handsworth FC, Handsworth Reserves, Handsworth U21's and Handsworth U18s of course but we've also enjoyed visits to a couple of other games outside the Handsworth "umbrella" -  like our trip to see old mates at Belper Town last Saturday.

Belper is where I began my football photography journey under the guidance of Tim Harrison, the Belper snapper who, basically, mentored me when I first began shooting football. That was back in 2007. A long time ago and another fact that makes me realise my age!

It's 2 years since our last visit. It was a lovely day weather-wise but not the best game of football we've ever seen. A good crowd of 591 saw a 0-0 draw between Belper and Stocksbridge. I took the camera of course but got involved in various chats with volunteers and supporters who are still at Belper from the days when we were Nailers supporters so not a lot of photos were taken.

It was also the first outing for the Duchess's new camera. She's upgraded to a Canon R7 and also bought a telephoto lens and new camera bag. So we are now totally "Canon mirrorless" at Nortoner Towers. Like me, chats with old friends took priority over her photographic efforts so it wasn't a massive test of her new gear although she did get some nice shots of the ground. The improvements to Belper Town's home are impressive and continuing!

Some of Sheila's shots on the new camera!

We dined at Chester's fish and chip restaurant in Chesterfield on our way back from the game. February 24th was our son's 50th birthday and although he now lives in Rotterdam, we always celebrate his birthday by dining out even though he can't be with us! It's a great excuse for an evening out!

Handsworth FC have continued their up and down season over the last month although to be fair, the saying "you don't always get what you deserve in football" has certainly applied to The Ambers recently. A combination of injuries, player unavailability and, it has to be said, poor refereeing, means only one win and a draw have been secured in the last month.

Results don't tell the whole story however. In at least 2 or 3 of the games played, a late opposition goal has meant defeat or 2 points dropped. The good news is that the lads have played some good football at times which augurs well for the remainder of the season. As it is, Handsworth are in mid-table with only 8 games of the league season left and they are also still in the NCEL League Cup. Fingers crossed.

Ground improvements also continue at Olivers Mount. New LED floodlights have been installed and on a selfish note, photographing night games just got a whole lot easier!! The lights are really effective and really add to the "night match" atmosphere.

Let there be light!

Lots of other stuff has happened since I last posted but the majority of events have been mundane and not worth boring you with.

See you next time - whenever that might be! 

Ice, Ice Baby!

The plan was that the next blog entry would follow Handsworth's game against Albion Sports scheduled for today but since the game has been postponed due to frozen water pipes at Oliver's Mount, I thought I might as well bore you now.

If I'm totally honest, I'm quietly pleased that there's no game today. I think I'm getting a bit "stale" when it comes to my football photos so a short break feels a little bit welcome perhaps? I keep saying "I'm getting too old for this" when shooting football and I think maybe I'm seriously starting to believe it! 

It's also my 74th birthday tomorrow. I don't want to be 74 but what can you do!?!

There's not really a lot to say when there's no football to go to. Our social life basically revolves around Handsworth FC.

Really only two items of note in my pretty mundane existence during the last week. 

Our son and his wife have finally moved into their fabulous new house after several weeks of waiting for the i's to be dotted and the t's to be crossed. Delighted for both of them. The only real concern was how their cat Izzy would react to the new place.

He's a rescue cat and can be very timid but he's been checking out the new house and Mark thinks he's almost decided where his "safe area" will be. Izzy used to like to sit by a radiator at their old place but the new home has underfloor heating which seems to have confused Izzy a bit! I'm sure he'll be fine!

Izzy selecting which box will be his

I've also had to see the nurse at our doctors surgery. A couple of weeks ago, at Handsworth's game against Bottesford, I stumbled and took a chunk out of my left leg on a metal stanchion in the stand. Didn't realise how much damage I'd done (to my leg - not the stanchion!) until I got home after the game.

I got a little concerned that the wound didn't seem to be healing and the area around it was reddening. Our local pharmacist told me that the reddening could be a sign of infection so I'd better get it checked out. Anyway - you'll be glad to know that the nurse at our surgery cleaned and dressed the wound and is pretty certain it's not infected but I have to go back on the 26th to see how it's going.

I learned a couple of interesting things from the nurse too. I told her I'd left the wound uncovered for a couple of days to "let the air get to it" (my grandmother's advice from many years ago) but the nurse said it should always be kept covered because letting air get to it can also let infection get to it.

Secondly, when I said I'd put Savlon Antiseptic cream on it she grimaced and said Savlon should never be put on an open wound.

You learn something new every day!

So - a blank Saturday. What to do. I've absolutely no idea. Roll on bedtime!

I'll let you know what, if anything, I get up to but in the meantime, I'll leave you with a shot of this morning's sunrise through the landing window.

Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in the morning - your boats on fire...

😁😉😂

Contrasts.

So I finally get around to updating the blog. My only excuse for not doing it sooner? I've been busy. It's been a hectic couple of weeks since the New Year started but I'm not going to bore you with all of the details.

Our football experience has been mixed. Handsworth have played 3 games resulting in one win, one draw and one defeat.

The win came in the County Senior Cup when we beat Sheffield FC after a penalty shoot out.

Ian Robinsons match report:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/teams/126071/match-centre/0-5805517/report

My pictures

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2024-01-03-sheffield-fc-00-45-on-pens-ambers-shsc3-1087588.html

The draw was in a NCEL Premier League game against Bottesford Town when the game finished 3-3

Ian's report:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/teams/126071/match-centre/1-14094648/report

My pictures

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2024-01-06-ambers-33-bottesford-ncel-prem-1087979.html

The loss was last Saturday (13th Jan) when we lost by a single goal at Penistone Church, again in the NCEL Premier League.

Ian's report

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/teams/126071/match-centre/1-14094662/report

My pictures

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2024-01-13-penistone-10-ambers-ncel-prem-1088602.html

I've put the links there now so that you don't have to read the rest of this rubbish if you don't want to!! (But it would be good if you did! 😉 👍 😘)

The game v Sheffield was staged at Handsworth's ground at Oliver's Mount because the persistent rain over the preceding days meant it was more than likely that Sheffield's home pitch would be waterlogged. Being a cup fixture, it was important that the game got played to help ease fixture congestion if it got postponed again. The Ambers 4G pitch ensured it went ahead.

Handsworth played very well against a team from a division higher in a fairly even game. After 90 minutes, the score was 0-0 so the game went to a penalty shoot out which Handsworth won 5-4. The deciding penalty was scored by young Rion Arbuoin who had joined the game as a sub with about 15 minutes left. It was a lovely moment for the lad for 2 reasons. 

First of all, he has been out of the 1st team squad for 6 months through injury and this was his first appearance since he got hurt. Secondly, last season Handsworth lost a penalty shoot out against Winterton when Rion's penalty was disallowed in very controversial circumstances. The ref initially allowed the penalty then changed his mind and decided that Rion had "double-kicked" the ball. Some very nasty scenes followed as the players left the pitch with some fans involved in the fracas.

The huge grin on the lad's face when he scored the winner against Sheffield was amazing and to be honest, it was very brave of him to put himself in the frame like he did.

Rion is congratulated by his teammates after striking the deciding pen.

Final comment on this game? The performance of the match officials was exemplary. Referee Danny Guest and his two assistants never put a foot wrong. Wish they could ref us every week!

Three days later, we witnessed a contrasting performance by the match officials in the 3-3 draw with Bottesford Town. The referee seemed determined to show everybody that he was in charge. He awarded Bottesford two penalties, at least one of which was highly debatable (even the Bottesford players seemed surprised!). 

The ref then sent 2 Handsworth players to the sin bin in the  space of 3 minutes as they protested the award of the second penalty. It's also the first time I've heard of an assistant ref swearing at a couple of Handsworth spectators, telling them to shut their mouths (expletive deleted) as they reacted to the penalty award!

In the dying minutes of the game, Handsworth number 5, Matt Reay, was red-carded when he collided with the Bottesford keeper as both tried to win a dropping ball. Matt slipped as he moved in and the keeper fell on top of him. (Matt was one of the two players sin-binned earlier in the game.) The keeper needed no physio treatment and wasn't badly hurt but the ref decided to display his power once again.

Matt Reay is dismissed for losing his footing as he went for the ball

Handsworth did have chances to make the game safe the most notable of which was when Leon Howarth's penalty kick beat the keeper but hit the base of the post. Score was 3-1 at that point but hey, I keep saying it - that's football.

I had a bad day photography wise, missing clear shots of all 3 Handsworth goals.  I'd moved into the small terraced stand to get out of a rain shower. A guy stood directly in front of the camera as Mitch Dunne scored The Ambers second - the goal of the game. In my haste to get around the guy blocking me, I stumbled against an iron stanchion and took a hefty chunk out of my left leg. I'm counting it as my first ever footballing injury!

We then moved on to a very cold Penistone Church on Saturday 13th January. The teams were pretty close in terms of recent form. Handsworth still had some player availability issues and weren't helped by the suspension of Matt Reay following his red card the previous Saturday.

The Ambers gave a good account of themselves and as the game progressed, it looked increasingly likely that one goal would settle it. That happened when Penistone pounced on a defensive error and scored the winner in the 68th minute. Despite some heavy Handsworth pressure in the final 15 minutes, we headed home with nothing but feelings of what might have been.

It was a bit of a stop start affair with some niggling fouls and yet more referee interventions which caused protests and disbelief amongst players and fans. It was very concerning in the last few seconds when Leon Howarth took an elbow to the head and went down in a heap. The referee completely ignored the incident and played on for maybe 20 or 30 seconds then blew the final whistle. 

He never checked if Leon was OK but instead joined his assistants to receive the handshakes of the departing players. Leon, clearly dazed, left the pitch with the physio and Handsworth players helping him after the officials had gone to the changing rooms.

A dazed Leon Howarth is helped to his feet after the final whistle.

Next game is at Oliver's Mount against another of the high flyers in the division when Albion Sports visit. Albion are in the play-off places despite having a 3-point deduction and it'll be another tough one. It's true that there are no easy games!

I'll not bore you with details of how my computer crashed, meaning system reinstallation and files recovery had to be completed but let me tell you, it was a real pain in the backside!! Took 2.1/2 days to get everything back up and running! Ain't technology wonderful!

Hopefully, the next entry on Norton Yer Life will be shorter and again, "hopefully", it will follow the Albion Sports game next Saturday. Unless of course, something really incredible happens but we're talking Ken at Norton Towers here so "incredible" is highly unlikely!! 

😉

See Yer!!

Happy New Year!

It's been 2 weeks since my last posting, largely due to the fact that the Christmas and New Year holidays got in the way a bit.

In those two weeks, Handsworth FC secured a 0-0 draw at Hallam FC on Boxing Day and then crashed to their heaviest ever home defeat when Emley AFC were the visitors.

We didn't go to the game at Hallam as we had something else happening on Boxing Day but reports suggest it was a hard-earned point secured after a fine goalkeeping display by Dylan Parkin. Handsworth's squad was massively depleted through injury, suspension and the unavailability of a few first team players who would normally be almost guaranteed starters in a 1st team game.

Ian Robinson's match report is here:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/teams/126071/match-centre/1-14094637/report

No match album as I wasn't there with the camera.

Next up, on 30th December, was a home game against Emley AFC, a team many believe will win the title. They are in 2nd place, 2 points behind leaders Campion FC but with 2 games in hand. Emley are also still in the NCEL League Cup and the County Senior Cup and have a 4th Round proper game in the FA Vase on 13th January.

We knew it would be a tough ask although Handsworth were unbeaten in 4 games in the league and in fact the previous 6 games had produced 3 wins and 2 draws. In addition, only one team in the Premier Division had kept more clean sheets than Handsworth's 7 this season so far. OK, so that was Emley with 11 but even so, those of us of an optimistic bent thought we might just get something from the game but has I've said elsewhere, I don't have a massive amount of faith in statistical analysis!!

Emley's long unbeaten run had come to an end the previous week when they lost 1-0 to Penistone. Another reason to hope maybe?

In truth, Handsworth were beaten by a much better team on the day. It didn't help that The Ambers were down to the bare bones as far as squad selection went with only 4 subs on the bench one of whom was 16 year old goalkeeper Tom Hill. Another was the hastily arranged dual registration of Koby Erratt-Thompson, a young lad on Ilkeston Town's books.

I don't think I've seen a better side than Emley at this level. They are big, fast, tactically aware and they have a good skill level in all positions so I guess there's no real disgrace in losing to a side of such obvious quality.

Read Ian Robinsons match report here:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2023-12-30-ambers-17-emley-ncel-prem-1087322.html

And my pictures from the game are here: (not my best set. That's why there's fewer than the usual number. The weather was awful and I spent most of the game shooting from the back of the stand in an effort to avoid the wind and rain!)

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2023-12-30-ambers-17-emley-ncel-prem-1087322.html

Next up is another tough one. We play Sheffield FC, from a division above Handsworth, on Wednesday 3rd December in a County Senior Cup tie. The game should be a home fixture for Sheffield but it is being hosted at Oliver's Mount where the 4G pitch will hopefully remove the possibility of another postponement. It is followed on Saturday 6th December with a home game against Bottesford. 

Then, a week later, we have yet another hard test when we visit Penistone Church FC. who will be buzzing having recently ended Emley's long unbeaten run. We usually manage to get to "Penistone away" every season but we'll see what the weather gods have to say.

Away from football, we enjoyed a very quiet Christmas. Because our son and daughter-in-law couldn't make it to Sheffield this year, we conducted present opening via a video link. It's not the same as having everybody in the same room but it's a workable alternative I guess.

So, 2024 is upon us and we're already 2 days in! We have a couple of significant birthdays happening this year and our son and his wife now have a date for moving into their fabulous new home. That will happen in mid-late January if all goes to plan. I'm still hoping we can get over to The Netherlands sometime in the spring maybe. That would be really good.

That's it for now folks. More hopefully follows after the next couple of games unless there is something really important that I think you should know about before then!

Happy New Year All!- and "Many Thanks" for taking the time to read this stuff. It's really very much appreciated.