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.

Like buses - you wait for ages for a game then 2 come along at once...

More rain meant the stop-start nature of the non-league season continued, leaving Handsworth without a game for 2.1/2 weeks after the home victory against Goole AFC on 25th November. NCEL Premier games scheduled for Golcar and Garforth on the two following Saturdays were postponed along with the County Senior Cup tie at Sheffield FC, which should have happened between these two Saturdays.

So, next up was a home fixture against Barton Town on Wednesday 13th November followed by another, 3 days later and at home again, against Maltby Main. They turned out to be 2 very different games! 

The Ambers seemed to have built on the momentum of the 6-1 win against Goole and largely dominated when Barton Town visited Oliver's Mount but a hatful of spurned chances meant the game stood at 0-0 until the 84th minute when Handsworth skipper Mitch Dunne headed home. 

Mitch Dunne's header gave Handsworth the lead v Barton

Perhaps a little naively, The Ambers pushed for a 2nd goal but Barton hit them on the break and grabbed an equaliser in the 4th minute of added time. The disappointed Handsworth faithful had to settle for a draw which almost felt like a defeat!!

It was one of those games (and we've all been there and seen them!) which would have had a very different scoreline if Handsworth had put away half of the chances they created.

On to the next fixture which was again at home but this time against a Maltby side who had recently dragged themselves off the foot of the table. Handsworth's Leon Howarth scored an absolute cracker in the 10th minute and The Ambers eventually won 1-0 to move up to 6th place in the division.

Leon Howarth's 10th minute strike brought Handsworth the 3 points v Maltby

The difference in performance between these two fixtures was like chalk and cheese. A top drawer performance and only one point was the result in the first game but then a below par performance brought a win! Football really is a "funny old game."

Ian Robinson's excellent match reports are here:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/teams/126071/match-centre/1-14094549/report

and here:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/teams/126071/match-centre/1-14094610/report

My photo albums from both games can be found by clicking the links:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2023-12-13-ambers-11-barton-ncel-prem-1086130.html

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2023-12-16-hfc-10-maltby-main-ncel-prem-1086431.html

Next up is a Boxing Day visit to Hallam FC. We can't make that game but we should be at Oliver's Mount on 30th December when we host high-flying Emley.  

That's the first of a 3 games in a week sequence. Wednesday 3rd January, we'll meet Sheffield FC in a S&H County Senior Cup game. Although it's technically their home game, it will be played at Olivers Mount on our 4G pitch to ensure the game goes ahead, (unless it snows!!!) having been postponed once already.

Then we are at home again on 6th January when we'll face the ever-improving Bottesford Town, again at Oliver's Mount.

See what I mean about games coming along like buses??!!

On the non-football front, we had a brief visit from our son Mark who drove from his home in Rotterdam to spend a few days with us because he and his wife aren't able to visit Sheffield at Christmas. It was great to see him (not least because he sorted out my external SSD which I thought I'd broken!) and the next time we meet up will hopefully be in Holland in the new year after they have moved  into the new home they've just bought. 

With no football to take pictures of, I've spent some time sorting out some old photographs and reliving some old memories, most of them happy, at Belper Town, Frecheville Cricket Club and of course Handsworth FC as well as holidays and bird-watching trips. I've been a member of Flickr since 2011 and wondered if you'd like a look at the 60,700+ photos in dozens of  albums which I've posted on there in the last 12 years. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/62126085@N04/albums

Go on! Grab a cuppa and have a browse! You know you want to!! 😜

I doubt there'll be another blog post before Christmas so I just want to wish you all (I'm assuming I have more than one reader!!!) "A Very Merry Christmas" and "All The Best for 2024" from Nortoner and The Duchess XX

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

No football weekend again!

With Handsworth's trip to Golcar ruled out because of the weather last Saturday and the fact that about 3 inches of snow fell on our estate so I couldn't get the car out, it was a no football weekend for us. Well, I suppose I could have got the car out but I don't drive in the snow!

The reorganisation of Handsworth's original fixture schedule due to earlier postponements meant the new dates had left The Ambers with 7 games in December 2023. Three of these were to be at home and 4 away. A tough ask given that Christmas and New Year were later in the mix somewhere.

Handsworth should be in action next on 5th December (tomorrow) in the County Senior Cup game at Sheffield FC. Nortoner Towers is about a mile up the road from Sheffield FC's home at the Coach & Horses ground so conditions will be similar to what they are in my back garden! Despite rain all day there is still standing snow about and with more rain forecast for this evening and Tuesday morning, another postponement looks on the cards. We'll see.

A cuptie postponement complicates the remaining fixture list because Cup games take precedence over league matches so a new date for this tie would add to the congestion. As well as the County Senior Cup, Handsworth will have another fixture to slot in.

We await news of our next opponents in the JCP Construction League Cup but the draw for the 3rd round hasn't been made yet. There are 2 second round League Cup ties to be played over the next week so it will probably be in the New Year before those games can be arranged.

Fixture lists compilation is one of the hardest tasks for any league administrator at grassroots level. The Duchess, (my other half - Sheila) spent many long hours over many years sorting out fixtures for the Under-11 to Under-16 age groups when she volunteered on the Committee of the Sheffield & District Junior Sunday League. Before she finally retired from the Junior League, she had the process down to a fine art and could compile the fixture lists for all age groups and all divisions in about a fortnight.

Anyway, with the Golcar game to be added and cup ties to be sorted, as it stands, Handsworth remaining fixture load looks like this:

December 2023 - 6 games - 5 league fixtures and 1 cup tie. 3 games away and 3 at home.

January 2024 - 4 games - 4 league fixtures. 2 games away and 2 at home.

February 2024 - 6 games - 6 league fixtures. 4 games away and 2 at home.

March 2024 - 3 games - 3 league fixtures. 1 game away and 2 at home.

April 2024 - 1 game - 1 league fixture. 0 games away and 1 at home.

As ever in these cases - fixtures are subject to change! 😉

Since there's no new football pictures to edit and show you, here's a picture of a winter moon taken from our bedroom window. 

This one shot reminds me that almost all of my photography these days is concentrated on football. Pre-Covid, I did a lot of wildlife and landscape photography and the plan is to get back to a more diverse portfolio in the new year. That's the plan anyway although knowing me, this plan will just get tagged on to my "Gunna do it!" list which is already several pages long!

Until the next time. See yer! 

Six Of The Best...

We gathered at Olivers Mount on Saturday 25th November to see if Handsworth FC could get back to winning ways in the NCEL Premier Division when we hosted Goole AFC who, like The Ambers, are having a very mixed season.

Waterlogged pitch postponements meant that this would be the team's first outing since the somewhat disappointing display at Pickering a fortnight previously.

Another dry, bright and cold day (as wished for) and we saw a comprehensive victory for The Ambers who ran out 6-1 winners and so avenged a 2-1 defeat to Goole in the reverse fixture at their place on October 10th.

Handsworth started brightly enough and really looked "up for it", taking the lead when midfielder Tom Bishop scored his first goal for the club but Goole levelled things a short while later and some of the home fans began to fret a little! However, with Mitch Dunne and top scorer Alfie Dodsworth having excellent games, the lead was soon restored and at half time, the score was 3-1 and the fans began to settle down a bit!!

Three further goals were added in the second half and were it not for a great performance from the Goole keeper, ex- Amber Luke Chadwick, the final score could have been in double figures.

As ever, Ian Robinson missed nothing and his comprehensive report can be found on the club website. Click the link:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/teams/126071/match-centre/1-14094581/report

Unlike Ian, I missed a few things, including a couple of the goals but that was really down to a lack of concentration as I found some lovely folk to chat too - from both sets of fans! Can't even blame the camera the time! My album is also on the website if you want a look:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2023-11-25-ambers-61-goole-ncel-prem-1084428.html

I did redeem myself to some extent though. I managed some good shots of the goal scored by Leon Howarth. So far this season all I've managed of Leon's goals is, generally, the ball hitting the back of the net! He's scored in each of our last 4 games so a good picture was long overdue!

Leon Howarth rounds the keeper and walks the ball into the net

On the subject of statistics, I've long believed that they can be used to prove anything. Many, (many) years ago, when I was at college studying for my HND in Business Studies and Practices, the only module I failed was statistics.

I guess it didn't help my cause when I put a sticker on the front of my statistics notes which read "A statistician is someone who believes that with your head in an oven and your feet in a fridge, on average, you'll be perfectly comfortable." I don't think the lecturer was impressed and although he never said anything, I failed the module so - what do you think!?

I mention this because in fact, prior to this win, statistics show that Handsworth hadn't won a league game in the previous 8 matches but on the flip side, they have won 3 of the 4 games played in November. OK. That includes 2 games in cup competitions so, is the glass really half full or half empty?

Anyway, next up on the football front is a series of away games, the first of which is at Golcar on 2nd December in the NCEL Premier league, followed by a short trip to Sheffield FC on the 5th December for a Senior Cup 3rd Round tie and finally, on Saturday 9th, we're away at Garforth in our next league game.

We won't be at either Golcar or Garforth. I've something else happening on Saturday 2nd and our son arrives in Sheffield on 7th December and will head back to Holland early on the 12th so we've almost a week with him which we intend to make as much use of as we possibly can!

I also need his help because I'm having some more problems with the computer/hard drives. I've somehow managed to corrupt the new SSD I bought so I'm working from my "backup" drive. I think I know what to do but I'm going to wait until he's actually at Nortoner Towers where he can guide me through it personally (and laugh at me no end of course!)

OK! I've bored you enough guys.Thanks for reading all or part of this ramble. Each view gets my "Blogger Stats" up! Much appreciated! More follows when there's more to report! 

Tarra for now!

In Reserve...

A couple of blog entries ago, I mentioned that The Ambers were to undertake 3 long away trips to games at Pickering, Tadcaster and Silsden, all within a week. I also suggested a "waterlogged pitch" might help reduce the length of the "North & West Yorkshire Tour."

Turns out waterlogged pitches meant the games at both Tadcaster and Silsden were postponed  leaving The Ambers 1st team with no fixture until 28th November when Goole AFC are the visitors to Olivers Mount. Perhaps in future, I should be more careful what I wish for!

We hadn't planned to go to Silsden last Saturday anyway. I had some business to sort out in Sheffield and wouldn't be through with that until it was too late to travel so we took the opportunity to see the Handsworth Reserves side for the first time this season.

The Reserves are essentially a new squad with a lot of young players and are competing in the Sheffield & Hallamshire County Senior League Division 1 having dropped down from the County Senior Premier Division during the summer break. The team had done well in the Premier Division but a change of management and essentially, the break up of last season's squad meant the Reserves were more or less starting from scratch.

They'd made a good start and were pushing for the top spot so we decided to have a look for ourselves in their home fixture against Thorncliffe Villa, another side in the process of rebuilding. 

On a fine dry afternoon Handsworth won the game. I like fine, dry afternoons because photography is so much easier when I'm not trying to keep me and the camera warm and dry!

At half time, Handsworth lead 2-0 with goals from Aidan Askwith (what a talent this young lad looks by the way!) and Nathan Metcalfe but based on 1st half performances, Thorncliffe were still very much in it.

Aiden Askwith (16) opens the scoring

Nathan Metcalfe scores the second goal.

A more cohesive show in the second half kept Handsworth largely on top although both sides could have had further goals if the chances created had been taken. 

Handsworth maintained the 2 goal lead until the final whistle and the win actually moves them into top spot in the division on goal difference from Sheffield City FC but Sheffield and 3rd placed AFC Dronfield have games in hand. Mind you, I've always reckoned that I'd rather have points on the board than games in hand.

There's a long way to go of course with only around half the season completed but things are looking good for the lads.

My match album can be viewed here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/62126085@N04/albums/72177720312801553

On other fronts, with a lot of help from my son in Holland, I figured out that computer problem I've been having. I store files and photographs on a 5Tb external hard drive and everything is then backed up to a second 5Tb external hard drive. As you'll see, I'm a "belt and braces" man!

The iMac and Apple operating system has a facility called "Disk Utility/First Aid". Running that on external drive 01 found "surface damage" on the drive so a repair wasn't possible. The upshot is that I've bought a new external drive but this time, a Solid State Drive rather than another external HDD so I've spent the last couple of days copying files from external drive 02 to the new drive which is faster and more reliable (fingers crossed)

Eliminating all of the technical jibber jabber - one of my external hard drives was knackered so I've bought a new 'un.

So it's on to next Saturday when we host Goole AFC in a league fixture.

Here's hoping for a fine, dry afternoon!

COYA🧡🖤⚽👊

Ain't technology wonderful?

A week and a half since my last blog entry because the external hard drive where I store my photo files decided it didn't want to play any more and so I've spent most of my week restoring files from a back up drive. Since there's almost 300,000 pictures on the drive plus all sorts of other data files, it's taking a while as you might imagine! Anyway - I'm almost there - hopefully.

So, since the Senior Cup win against Wombwell Main, The Ambers have played two more games with decidedly mixed results.

First up was a League Cup tie against Eccleshill at Oliver's Mount. A close encounter saw Handsworth come out on top, winning 3-2 with a late goal from Leon Howarth.

Eccleshill had taken the lead in the first half but 2 goals from Alfie Dodsworth early in the second half put The Ambers in front. 

Alfie celebrates the first of his 2 goals

The visitors equalised in the 84th minute and the game looked destined for a penalty shoot out until Leon popped up to score the winner and take Handsworth through to the next round.

It was an exciting game but as Ian Robinson said in his match report, Eccleshill must be sick of the sight of Handsworth because we'd already beaten them twice in the League this season before this win.

Ian's Match Report is here:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/teams/126071/match-centre/0-5785684/report

And my pictures are here:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2023-11-08-ambers-32-eccleshill-lc-rd-2-1082115.html

Three days later, on Saturday 11th November, we made the long journey to Pickering Town to see if The Ambers could add another win to make it 3 in a row. 

This was our first visit to Pickering and involved a round trip of some 170 miles so we decided to travel on the Saturday and stay overnight at the Premier Inn after the match, driving back to Sheffield on Sunday. That plan worked! The accommodation was excellent and we'd booked the "Meal Deal" so dinner on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday were sorted!

However, the journey up there took just about 2.1/4 hours because I decided to believe the sat nav rather than my instinct. I'd heard of lane closures on the M1 near Meadowhall so followed the sat nav which sent us up the M18 and A1(M). A long section of the A1(M) was under contraflow (which I obviously didn't know about!) and the traffic queues began about 4 miles before that.

The Saturday weather was dry, cold and mostly bright but the outcome of the game was less than bright for The Ambers.

Pickering scored first with a free header from a  corner kick but goals from Leon Howarth and Brendan Bagley gave us a 1-2 lead at half time. The second half saw Pickering score 3 times to end up as 4-2 winners. One of their goals came from a dubious penalty award although to be fair, the ref rejected what appeared to be a nailed on penalty for Pickering a few minutes earlier. We think he realised his error and so, first chance he got, he gave them a less obvious one.

Brandon Bagley puts The Ambers in front - but it didn't last!

The defeat wasn't totally down to the referee although he had a lot to do with it. Most of his decisions were questionable (for both sides) and the game developed into a stop-start, niggly affair illustrated by a "handbags" clash involving the vast majority of the 22 players towards the end.

It became a "long ball - get after that" game and that's a tactic Handsworth are not particularly good at. Handsworth were missing leading scorer Alfie Dodsworth and midfielder Sam Fewkes but also missed a couple of good scoring opportunities.

The defeat wasn't easy to take because we all know that The Ambers can play much better than  they did on the day.

Match Reporter Ian Robinson wasn't at this one so you'll have to make do with my brief comments above and my picture album to get a feel of the game:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2023-11-11-pickering-42-ambers-ncel-prem-1082814.html

Next up was supposed to be a midweek trip (yesterday) to Tadcaster for a league fixture but that was called off on the morning of the game. We wouldn't have been at the match anyway, It's another round trip of about 100 miles and I didn't feel like another long trek back home, especially in the dark and past my bedtime!

There's another 100+ miles away trip to Silsden on Saturday 18th November but we won't be there. I have some business to attend to on Saturday morning and won't be through with that until after lunch so couldn't get there before kick off. We'll get our football fix at Olivers Mount where Handsworth Reserves have a game against Thorncliffe Villa in the County Senior League.

In other news... We didn't get our bird-watching trip. A dry day was originally forecast but the prediction changed so we decided to leave it for another time. I've said before that the weather forecasts are not to be believed and that truth happened again. It was a dry day.

However, It worked out for us in the end because our plumber called in to finally fix our leaking central heating boiler. James Noble is his name. Based in Dronfield, he's a great bloke and very good at his job! Check him out!

https://www.checkatrade.com/trades/NobleGasAndHeating?image=719869&type=1&album=40913

I also got a new winter coat! I'm ashamed to admit that when I tried on my "Craghopper" winter coat for the first time in 12 months, I couldn't fasten it properly!  I've worn it every winter since I retired (10 years in March 2024) but "idle, fat git" mode has taken over and I'm heavier than I've ever been. I blame COVID and lockdowns...

Right - I'll leave it there. If you've made it to the end, "Thank You" and if you haven't  - can't say I blame you! 

Back to Winning Ways!

On a wet and generally miserable Saturday 4th November, Handsworth and Wombwell Main finally completed their County Senior Cup 2nd Round game. The game was played at Olivers Mount because the pitch at Wombwell was still unfit.

The Ambers ran out 7-2 winners although Wombwell gave a pretty good account of themselves. They play their games in the County Senior League, Premier Division which is 2 levels below Handsworth so a win for The Ambers was anticipated.

Handsworth scored first through a Jonno Williams free-kick but Wombwell were level within a minute when a heavily defected strike beat Handsworth keeper Dylan Parkin.

Skipper Ozzie Radford restored the lead with the last kick of the first half and two quick fire goals early in the 2nd half more or less knocked the stuffing out of Wombwell and Handsworth coasted to a fairly comfortable win in the end.

Read Ian Robinson's match report for a more thorough description of the action.

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/teams/126071/match-centre/0-5785683/report 

and my photos are here:

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/handsworthfc/photos/2023-11-04-wombwell-main-27-ambers-senior-cup-rd2-1081370.html

It was good to see Club Captain Ozzie Radford play his first full 90 minutes in around 3 months. A frustrating injury has kept him on the sidelines. He performed very well although he admitted to cramping up in the last 5 or 10 minutes but he was determined to get through a full game.

Skipper Oz Radford obviously "bouncing" to be back!!

The other high spot of the day came when with 15 minutes left, Handsworth gave a first team debut to 16-year old goalkeeper Tom Hill. He came on as a sub for Dylan Parkin and became the youngest ever player for The Ambers first team. Tom has been involved with the first team for some time now, his primary job being to warm up the keepers prematch, both home and away. Managers Jon Froggat and Mark Ward rewarded his hard work and dedication by formally signing him to the first team squad a couple of weeks ago.

Tom Hill leaves the pitch at the end of the game - I hear he's still grinning from ear to ear!

Tom has come through the Handsworth Junior set up. He's a great future prospect and was naturally "over the moon" to get on the pitch.

Next up is a League Cup tie against Eccleshill. That game takes place on Wednesday 8th November at Olivers Mount and it'll be a tough one. We've played Eccleshill twice in the league the season, winning 2-0 at their place and 2-1 at ours so they'll be looking for revenge!

There's not much else to report from the 3 days since my last blog entry. We're hoping to have our first bird-watching session in about 4 years at RSPB Old Moor, Wath upon Dearne tomorrow. We were members of the RSPB until lockdowns stopped our visits to the Reserves so we ceased membership. Now that lockdowns are done with, we've decided to rejoin the organisation. I'm quite looking forward to photographing something other than football to be honest. Just hope the forecast for a bright, dry day is correct.

We've also had confirmation that in early December, our son is to make a short visit to see us from his home in Rotterdam. Naturally, we're really looking forward to that! 

A Football-less Fortnight.

Handsworth's County Senior Cup game at Wombwell Main, scheduled for Saturday 28th November, was postponed when a 'last minute" pitch inspection at 10:30 a.m. on the morning of the game (4.1/2 hours before kick-off) found a waterlogged pitch.  A switch to Oliver's Mount and our 4G pitch was declined so that meant a blank football Saturday.

The match was put back a week to Saturday 4th November. It has to be played on a Saturday because there are no floodlights at Wombwell Main but this time, the NCEL and The County FA have insisted that if Wombwell's pitch is unfit again, the fixture must be moved to Oliver's Mount.

This rearrangement means that our home league fixture against Barton Town will now be played on Wednesday 6th December.

The fixture shuffle leaves us with only 2 home games in November and only one of those is a Saturday fixture. Saturday games tend to draw bigger crowds so the club's income stream will likely be affected.

In addition, all of this fixture rescheduling means The Ambers face 3 long away trips in the space of a week:

Saturday, 11th November - away at Pickering Town - a 166 mile round trip

Tuesday 14th November - away at Tadcaster Albion - a 94 mile round trip

Saturday 18th November - away at Silsden - a 112 mile round trip 

Nothing can be done about it of course. Maybe we should hope that a "waterlogged pitch" might postpone one of these excursions?

The absence of a football match to comment on has made me think about the content of this blog. Looking back at my blog entries from 10-12 years ago, I recall I didn't just comment on football but noted other things we'd been up to.

I've decided to resume that sort of content and so, with no football pictures to show you, here's a couple I've taken of the Autumn colours around Norton Towers. Can't remember the last time I photographed anything other than football so it made a nice change. I'm working on a Flickr album which I'll post ASAP.

Over the football-less period, we've had a leaking central heating boiler to sort out and we've both had a haircut. We've dined out at Chester's Fish & Chips in Chesterfield and I've had new spectacles. We've rejoined the RSPB and are planning some bird-watching expeditions.

I'll not go into any more detail here but events such as these will be recorded if and when they happen so you may see what a full and active life we lead! (Or not?!

Back to football tomorrow though! COYA!!

Laters!