Springfields Court
Springfields
Padbury
Buckingham
Bucks
MK18 2AT
Ground Number: 1379
Saturday 21st December 2024
Padbury Village 4-2 MK Irish Reserves
Spartan South Midlands D2
Spartan South Midlands D2
PADBURY VILLAGE FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
The club was established in 2011 and provides football for children of all ages and their first team. They were a replacement for Padbury United who played in the Spartan South Midlands League Division 2 from 2001-2011, winning the title in their final season. The new club started in the North Bucks & District League Division 2 under the name Real Padbury, moving up to Division 1 at the end of that season due to reorganisation. After a series of lowly finishes, they came 3rd in 2016, although two years later, they won just once all season and finished bottom of the table. The following year, they finished second bottom of Division 2 and left the league. From 2019 until 2023 I am unable to find any record of them. In 2023 they emerged in the North Bucks & District Premier and were invited to join the Spartan South Midlands Division 2.
Padbury is a village in north Buckinghamshire. It is located on the A413 road that links Buckingham with Winslow. The population is just 810. The village name is Old English in origin, and means 'Padda's fortress'. In the Domesday Book of 1086 the village was recorded as Pateberie. The Manor of Padbury was exchanged, around the time of the Norman Conquest, for the Manor of Iver between Robert Doyley and Robert Clarenbold of the Marsh. During the English Civil War Padbury was the site of a skirmish between the Royalist and Parliamentarian forces. The Royalists won on this occasion, and the burial of eight Parliamentarian soldiers is recorded in the burial register for 2 July 2 1643. The village features two pubs, 'The New Inn' and 'The Blackbird'. There is also a butcher and other shops in the village. The village had a railway station up until 1964 until it was closed thanks to the Beeching cuts.
MY VISIT
Usually, this is the only Saturday of the year that I have to work, with it being the lead-up to Christmas. A personal hell for me as the store is extremely busy and crowded and the workload is heavy. I loved Christmas as a kid and still enjoy trying all the food. There were still concessions that I had to make though, including going in two hours early. Luckily my manager is sensible and restricted this to starting the Friday before Christmas instead of two weeks. But I still had the worst day of the year to contend with - the Sunday before the big day. Sundays are hellish at the best of times but with a 2 am alarm and it being the busiest day of the year, it was going to be extra toxic. As a result, I wanted to be home by 8 PM so I at least stood a chance of some sleep. That restricted it to step 7 and my initial two thoughts were either Faringdon Town (Wiltshire League) or Kensington Dragons (Middlesex League). Overall I had 25 options before considering cup games and lower leagues.
From the end of the game at Helston, I strolled to the local Tesco to stock up on stuff for the journey home. After the players had emerged, we left at 5.45, stopping at the shop for a well-earned drink. We got away just after 6 and I had the chance to get my blog up. It was a long journey home, broken up at Exeter services where we saw the Falmouth Town team heading back from Melksham. Thatcham had been a great team to travel with and their manager, former Marlow striker Yashwa Romeo thanked me for coming and shook my hand. Hopefully, a coach will be in place for Mousehole on January 14th as it's a good deal for everyone. After leaving Exeter services at 9, we are back in Thatcham at 11.30. It takes me an hour to get home and I go straight to bed. However, it takes me another two hours to drop off to sleep. Two cans of energy drink got me through a busy day to 1 PM. I still wasn't tired but a few hours in bed freshened me up.
Tuesday saw me opt for a local revisit in Wembley v Amersham Town rather than a new ground at Hartpury University. It was a surprisingly mild day, although a bit wet in the evening. It was a reasonable drive, but parking was a pain. I've seen a 3-2 and a 4-5 at this classic ground and this night was no exception goal-wise. Wembley belied the league table by roaring into a two-goal lead, dominating the first half, and missing a penalty. However, some suspect defending saw Amersham roar back in the second half, winning 4-2 including up to three own goals. The rest of the week was a slog, including an 11-hour shift on Friday. This was followed by a couple of hours at home before the usual pre-match before Wycombe. It was whilst in the Rose and Crown that I discovered that the game at Kensington Dragons was off, thanks to another hopper. The reason given was pitch unplayable, but I'd suspect a mutual cancellation due to the horrible phenomenon that is Christmas. A few pints deep at this point, Jolof Sports was the easy replacement, though a new pub plan was needed. I then went to the new Taco Bell in town which was farcically run and they got pretty much everything wrong. I still got a bag of food for under £4 though and got to the ground just before kickoff. The game turned out to be an entertaining 0-0, Wycombe unlucky not to win, not helped by a ropey referee.
I was still in a quandary when I got home. Looking at the Stonewall Twitter, the club moved around a lot with no fixed abode. The ground they were using was pretty poor, not so much as a viewing area. Add in it being a ropey part of London and the Middlesex League being unreliable, I looked elsewhere. Trowbridge Town were considered, but they had doubts over their pitch. Faringdon Town was reconsidered, but the 3 PM kickoff put me off. In the end, I gave in and elected to drive. Padbury Village was one that I fancied for ages. They had a decent Twitter and it recompleted the Spartan South Midlands D2 for me. I had been up for 22 hours at this point and with a few drinks was starting to flag. I got a reasonable night's sleep and went for a morning walk on the day of the game. After coming back, I researched the club history before leaving at 12.50. The last part of the journey dragged due to a bus driving at half the speed limit. I was there at 1.50 and saw hoppers John & Eddie who had made their way down from Leicester.
Padbury Village were second bottom of the table, twelve games without a win since their opening day 1-0 victory over Codicote. Their last game was a bad-tempered 4-1 loss at Tottenhoe. They did have hope though, MK Irish Reserves were 14th and the two sides had shared a 3-3 draw in the return fixture. The visitors had beaten Caddington 3-1 last week. The weather started to rain quite heavily as the game started and it was also very windy. Eventually, it brightened up but despite it being a mild winter so far, the wind made it nippy. Padbury took the lead on six minutes, having had the better of the game, a low shot hit the left-hand post on the way in. A ball down the right a few minutes later found Kelvin Osei-Addo whose low shot from the edge of the area made it 1-1. A corner from the left was headed home to make it 2-1 to Padbury on 18 minutes. However on 20 minutes, a penalty was awarded to MK Irish for a handball, and Osei-Addo converted to make it all square. Good chances came for both sides and the home #7 was guilty of missing an easy chance due to delaying his shot. However, the hosts went in ahead at the break, a shot from just inside the area making it 3-2. A frenetic first half, but the second was a tad calmer. The Padbury #11 blasted over from a few yards out but was offside anyway. The same player screwed a shot just wide on the hour. The game was sealed on 65 minutes, a deflected shot looping over the visiting keeper to make it 4-2. The Padbury keeper made a couple of great saves to preserve his team's lead. In the final minute, the hosts were awarded a free kick, the ball was palmed out by ther keeper and the rebound netted, only for it to be ruled offside.
THE GROUND
PADBURY SPORTS PAVILION is a good ground for the level. Typically of a ground at this level, there is very little seating, aside from some benches. There is also a decent amount of cover for around 50 thanks to an overhang. The building itself contains basic facilities including a tuck shop but no bar. The pitch itself has a rope around it and portable dugouts. There are also some nice touches such as conifers behind the goal which aid with ball retention. There is a small car park with further parking on the street. Buses are available from Aylesbury and other nearby towns.
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