Indian Gymkhana - Indian Gymkhana Club

Indian Gymkhana FC

Indian Gymkhana Club

Thornbury Ave

Osterley

Middlesex 

TW7 4NQ

Official Website

Twitter

Instagram

Ground Number: 1386

Saturday 1st February 2025
Indian Gymkhana 2-3 Pitshanger Dynamo
Middlesex County Premier

INDIAN GYMKHANA FC - A BRIEF HISTORY 

Indian Gymkhana FC was established in the early 1980’s.  and is renowned as being the longest-standing Asian sports club in the west London area. They started out in Sunday football and were Marathon Sunday Football League Division 2 runners-up in 1999, Division 1 winners in 2001 and Championship winners the following year. They then won the Hayes & District Sunday Football League Premier Division in 2006 and 2007 before making the move into Saturday football.

Since then they have been members of the Middlesex County League Premier Division, winning it in their debut season of 2008 and have finished as high as 3rd in 2023. Local honours include two Middlesex County Sunday Intermediate  Cups, the Marathon Sunday Football League Challenge Cup in 2002, two Marathon Sunday League Charity Cups, two Hayes & District Sunday Football League Premier Cups and the London Tigers/Chelsea FC UK Asian Community Cup in 2007.

MY VISIT

It was yet another visit to Adams Park on Saturday for my 1425th Wycombe Wanderers game, a stat that was delivered to me by the Futbology App. It was a disappointing 0-0 draw against Northampton Town. It was far from the worst game I've ever seen but it was a disappointing result against the struggling Cobblers. It was not helped by resting several forward players and only bringing them on when it was too late. The club is a rudderless ship at the moment without a manager and it was announced on Sunday that Randers manager Rasmus Bertelsen had rejected the offer to become our new manager. However, our current Danish obsession seems strange. Why we are not going for Steven Schumacher is beyond me, by far the best candidate for the job but we seem to have lost the culture and spirit that made our club so special. It was a joy to watch former manager Gareth Ainsworth's optimism despite his Shrewsbury Town side being bottom of the table. Otherwise, it was a decent, if boozy Saturday. The Sunday was less so as my planned women's game at Holmer Green was switched to Beaconsfield Town. It took much longer to get home from work than usual due to multiple sets of abandoned roadworks. It was also bucketing it down so I was glad to stay in.

Finally, on Tuesday I managed to put a plan together for my weekend off, starting 7th March. After several false starts and much frustration with logistics, I eventually plumped for Vienna and Budapest but could only book half of the trip due to the Hungarian fixtures not yet being decided. It gave me something to do as it rained for most of the day, making me less keen to take my usual walk to town & back. That rain had accounted for several games and I was glad of a surefire game in Wycombe v Barnsley. As we have only had about a week of summer in recent years, it is a constant inconvenience for supporters and clubs alike. It was the standard Wycombe pre-match, Rose and Crown and a decent chicken Jalfrezi. Not quite the same Wycombe though as another strange lineup omitted the vast majority of our expensive new signings. Unsurprisingly, we found ourselves 1-0 down fairly rapidly with Richard Kone offering hope but not so much from the others. The Ivorian King really turned it on in the second half, a penalty and a stunning last-minute header to record a glorious 2-1 win and it would have been harsh on Wycombe had they not won with Kone lifting the whole team.

From my game at Didcot, it started as a good journey home. However, the dodgy roads did for me as I hit a pothole and the dreaded low-pressure warning came up. It turned out I'd done two tyres and so had to call the RAC. The wait was ridiculous, anything up to 6.5 hours and a friendly police patrol even turned up as I'd be stranded for so long. Finally, at 4.10 am, help arrived despite having my expected wait being as late as 9 am. The bloke was friendly and chatty and let me know that it was a bit of a black spot for potholes around here. I wish I'd brought my laptop or a portable charger as audiobooks were my only company. I was hungry and thirsty too but at least I put the wheels in motion, ordering the new tyres to be fitted on Tuesday, at the competitive price of £140 for mobile fitting. The RAC quoted me over £370 for the same service although I'd have been seen quicker. I was back home at 5.15 and had a pint of Ross On Wye cider for a nightcap. I did consider staying awake but decided to grab a couple of hours of sleep. I also considered the idea of staying local but Holmer Green and Penn & Tylers were both away.

After my alarm went off at 8.20, I finished tying up some loose ends from last night. I'd left it so tight that after having a freshen-up and getting dressed, I had no time for breakfast. It was the first time I'd used the bus this year, due to the 50% increase in fares. The 9.06 was at least on time and meant that my day could still go ahead. I had 20 minutes to kill due to the times not linking up well. It gave me time to get a meal deal of Hoisin Duck wrap, Tony's Caramel chocolate and Peachy Keen energy drink. I waited on the platform for 15 minutes, catching the 09:48 Metropolitan to London. It was then I checked the league website and found out that my intended game was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, the same spurious excuse that had been used to cancel my game before Christmas. There were two contenders for a replacement, a game at Hackney Marshes or Indian Gymkhana v Pitshanger Dynamo. I decided to go for the former as my Hackney Marshes visit would involve a deep dive into the history and I didn't have the time. Twitter was hopeless for these sides but the Indian Gymkhana Instagram replied saying it was game on. Plans were made on the fly to go to a different Wetherspoons but I had to go through Waterloo whatever the case.

Before that, I had to suffer the London Underground and its lack of mobile signal. That said, they can't even stretch to a rubbish bin but it is a very useful service. I was at Waterloo at 11 but due to Google Maps shoddy directions I took longer than I wanted due to shoddy directions on Google Maps. Nevertheless, Wetherspoons 386, The Lion and Unicorn was pleasant and had three boxed ciders not on the app. On the way I encountered police moving on a stroppy fly pitcher flogging England tat and assumed it was for the Rugby. Happily, though, it was just gammon twats going to a protest as I really liked the look of Twickenham Wetherspoons as it had Black Dragon on. The Waterloo Spoons had served pints in plastic glasses due to the protests but it was easy to get a seat. I caught the 11:33 train heading to Windsor and Eton Riverside which was busy but pleasant. I was at Twickenham station at 11.40 and walked the five minutes to Wetherspoons. Twickenham is the home of rugby and, appropriately, this Wetherspoon pub is named after William Webb Ellis, who is said to have invented the game. I'm not a rugby fan at all, but this was a great pub. Shawarma Wrap, chips and Black Dragon were £7.07, great value. The drinks service was great, the food service less so but it was still tasty. Two pints of loopy juice later, I made my way to the ground. It was supposed to be a simple walk, slightly slower than public transport but some exercise. However, Google Maps expected me to walk through the Thames Water plant and through metal fences. No Bolt taxis were available either, but the bus saved the day. I got there just in time, meeting some other hoppers at the game.

Indian Gymkhana were 10th and had not played since 7th December when they lost 3-1 at Camden United. Pitshanger Dynamo were in 15th and had won their last three games including a 2-0 win over Kensington Dragons last Saturday. Gymkhana were the better side early on but it was bottom side Pitshanger that took the lead on 12 minutes with a scrappy goal, a header from Tiernan. Pitshanger continued to dominate but it was Gymkhana who equalised on 33 minutes, an excellent cross slid in at the back post. This led to a good spell for the hosts, during which they hit the bar. On 54 minutes, the hosts took the lead, a cross from the right was swung in and headed home. An attack down the left saw Pitshanger equalise on 77 minutes, slotted into the far corner of the net. Another couple of crosses later, the second one finished from just inside the area on 81 minutes for 2-3.

It had been a game of good honest football, albeit a bit rough around the edges. Amongst our group, Jason from near Tooting, Daniel who has half Polish heritage and the Dad of one of the Pitshanger Dynamo players. Daniel was off to Australia, slightly better than work at 4 am. It was a 40-minute walk to the Wetherspoons, through a very diverse area with many interesting takeaways. However, a sit down in a busy Wetherspoons was my destination. Wycombe were 1-0 up but as I neared my destination, Cambridge made it all square. The rest of the game was entertaining whilst I drank a pint of Old Rosie, a snip at £3.14. Some £2.99 chicken wings cured my hunger. With Google Maps saying it was two hours to home and the Feltham Wetherspoons only 16 minutes away, it was inevitable that I would head there. Another two pints were had before I got the bus to Harrow and the train to Amersham. I then got a lift home, getting in at 8.50. A couple of soft drinks later, I was ready for bed, what with work in the morning.

THE GROUND

In pitch terms, INDIAN GYMKHANA CLUB is very basic with no rail around the pitch and no cover. The only furniture is a pair of dugouts but it's a pleasant place to watch a game. The clubhouse is the best part, the imposing building offers a warm welcome. The drinks selection is not the greatest for cider fans with just Kopparberg bottles that I could see. However, the smells coming from the kitchen were awesome with curry on offer at times.