Goring United - Sheepcot Rec

Goring United FC

Goring Social Club

Sheepcot Recreation Ground

1 High Street

Goring-on-Thames

Oxfordshire

RG8 9BA

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Ground Number: 1469
Saturday 30th August 2025

Goring United 0-3 Tadley-Calleva Reserves

Thames Valley Premier

GORING  UNITED FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

After playing friendly games against various local sides for several years, Goring United FC was officially formed in 1901. Teething problems arose from the sharing of the Gardiner Recreation Ground, as they and the cricket club fought over its use. Eventually, a compromise was found, and it was a venue that they would continue to use for most of their history. Early days were spent in the Reading Temperance League until the war brought football to a halt. Three sides emerged from the conflict with one playing in the Reading Wednesday League, set up for shop workers who were forced to work Saturdays. The main side played in the Reading & District League either side of World War II. The 50s began with a star guest of honour at the club's annual dinner: Ted Drake, former Arsenal and England star, then manager of Reading FC. Like many organisations up and down the country, the football club celebrated the Queen's coronation – with a Coronation Eve dance on June 1st 1953, held in the Parish Hall. They won the Reading & District Division 4 in 1964, but struggled for players in some seasons, leading to the temporary scrapping of the reserve team.

  By 1968, they'd reached Division 2 West, but results declined, and by the early 70s, they were back in Division 4, where they were champions again in 1976. They hardly put a foot wrong in the 1984/85 season and finished up comfortable winners of Division 3. The Chronicle of 3 May 1985 records: "Division 3 champions Goring United signed off their career in that section with a 5-1 thumping of Hurst, with goals from Kevin Wild, Liam O'Gorman, Dave Cade and Martin Turner, and at the same time brought up a ton of goals in the league." Goring won 25 out of 26 matches, a feat never seen before or since. Once promoted, the team consolidated their position in Division 2. They also won the South Oxfordshire Junior Cup in 1987, and rounded off the decade in style, brushing aside Cookham Dean Reserves in a decisive 8-0 victory, which sent them to the top of the table in December 1989.

By the summer of 1989, the Reading League, which would go on to be the modern-day Thames Valley League, was established. Goring United was a founder member, starting in Division 2 Kennet, which they would win in 1995. After three decent seasons, the side won Division 1 Kennet in 1998 and were promoted to the Premier Division. A 3rd place finish at the turn of the Millennium was the best in the club's history at that point. Goring were relegated in 2003 but bounced back immediately as runners-up behind Old Bell. Another couple of seasons were spent in the Premier Division before relegation again in 2006. They finished as Division 1 runners-up behind AFC Corinthians in 2012, which by now was a step 9 league. Relegations followed in 2013 & 2014 as the league was rebranded and reorganised. By 2014, Goring United were playing in the Thames Valley Division 2. They suffered a further relegation in 2019 to Division 3 and became a yo-yo club for a few seasons. Results over the pandemic season saw the club promoted to Division 2 where they finished as runners-up to Henley Town. Four seasons were spent in Division 1 before the club won the title last season.

Recent cup honours include the Berkshire Trophy Centre Intermediate Cup in 2004 & 2012. Goring-on-Thames (or Goring) is a village on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire and Berkshire border. It is 6 miles south of Wallingford and 8 miles north-west of Reading. It has a population of around 3,300. Most land is farmland, with woodland on the Goring Gap outcrop of the Chiltern Hills. Its riverside plain encloses the residential area, including a high street with shops, pubs and restaurants. Goring & Streatley railway station lies on the Great Western Main Line, providing trains between London, Reading, and Didcot. The village church is dedicated to St Thomas Becket with a nave that was built within 50 years of the saint's death, in the early 13th century, along with a later bell tower. Goring faces the smaller Streatley across the Thames; the two are linked by Goring and Streatley Bridge. The name Goring first appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Garinges, then as Garingies in a charter once held in the British Museum. It translates as "Gara's people". In the summer of 1893, Oscar Wilde stayed at Ferry House in Goring with Lord Alfred Douglas. While there, Wilde began writing his play An Ideal Husband, which includes a main character named Lord Goring. Musicians Pete Townshend and George Michael also lived in the village.

MY VISIT

After doing quite a bit of travelling in recent times, I was keen to keep it cheap and local this weekend. Due to the number of grounds I have covered, even step 7 games produced very few opportunities within London, my preferred option, as it is easier to access backups. Therefore, tempting options at South Leeds, Dearne & District and Thurnby Rangers would be left for another day. Around six options were whittled down to two - Richmond & Kew v Worcester Park and Canterbury City v Metrogas. With the latter having one of their Wetherspoons closed and being a more expensive trip, I decided to leave it for a while. There was a great-looking pub called The Mitre that had attracted me to Richmond and Kew, so I would be doing the bulk of the journey on the train. The only disappointment was the lack of home social media and a vague ground location on FA Full Time, but I initially decided to stick with it.

From our game at Foxton, we left at 8, with darkness soon falling. We listened to the Bromley v Wycombe Wanderers game, with the League 2 side equalising as we were on our way home. I dropped Colin off at 9.15 and got home myself at 9.30. I was just in time to watch Wycombe win on penalties and get my blog up before trying to get to sleep. It took me ages to drop off because we'd just discovered that we had lost our Knaresborough game from the Friday of our trip, and there would be all the hassle of cancelling hotels and finding a new game. Money-wise, we lost about £17 on wasted train tickets too, but those are the risks you take when groundhopping and buying advance tickets. I was knackered the following day and struggled through my shift. When I got home, I found an alternate game for both of us and then spent two hours trying to find a suitable hotel. At this late notice, options were thin on the ground, but I eventually got something sorted.

On Wednesday evening, I decided to revisit Sarratt to help Colin out. He'd got a serious case of the PuffPuffs, too lazy to walk or cycle it, despite it being a short distance. It was a terrible drive, the vile Cadent roadblockers whose roadworks take an age due to so few hours worked a week. The worst proponents of gas since Adolf Hitler quadrupled the journey time, and that was before the miles of crap country roads that it takes to reach the ground. It is a lovely ground, though, and despite Caddington having the better of the early stages, Sarratt raced into a three-goal lead including a good free kick. Caddington pulled one back after the home keeper fumbled a cross. A rocket of a strike pulled it back to 3-2 just after halftime. Caddington piled on the pressure, but Sarratt made it 4-2 on the hour. A very generous late penalty made it 5-2, but it was good entertainment for the 55 present as it finished in the dark. I went home and caught up on TV, as well as watching the end of the Grimsby Town v Manchester United game. The Mariners had led 2-0 at one point, but United grabbed two late goals. The penalty shoot-out was tense for the second night in a row. Happily, the League 2 side won, but Wycombe got a dreadful draw for their previous night's efforts, being sent to Wigan Athletic.

Thursday was a mixed day. The good news was getting a Vienna & Zagreb plan put together, hopefully involving Croatia v Gibraltar if dates fall right. The disappointing news was that my planned pub for pre-match was not doing food owing to a function. However, they were friendly and helpful, so despite a late look at Flix Buses to Sheffield & Leeds, I'd probably persist with my original plan. However, a tempting game came up after I helped out Futbology by entering the Thames Valley League fixtures. Goring United would mean a day out in Reading and their many great pubs, so I was swayed towards that, but I would decide on Friday. That day came and having checked the weather, Goring was good to go. After a gruelling few days at work, I could have done with a few drinks, but having had a shedload the previous week, I decided to be disciplined and wait until Saturday. It was a night of watching TV and doing research for this blog, with a 7.30 alarm set, which represented a 3.5-hour lay-in compared to work. I woke at 6.30 on the day of the game, having had a good eight-hour sleep. After watching YouTube, I got up, washed, dressed and had breakfast before leaving at 8. It was a good 80-minute walk to the bus station. The 9.30 bus, the 8.50 to Reading was popular, not surprising given that the £3 fare was great value, even after the government hiked fares by 50% last year. It took over 90 minutes, the only downside, but I passed the time by reading FourFourTwo and Retro Gamer on my tablet.

 

The bus was late but I was at the excellent Nags Head in Reading by 11.40. Three halves of new cider were sampled, the easy winner for my favourite was Nightingale Mystery Bird, a brilliant, dry and flavourful cider. Food was needed, and so I went to Biriyani Boys for Chicken Samosa, Chicken Seekh Kebab and Chilli and Coriander Naan. Not my original choice but the place across the road had no menus on display and I couldn't be arsed messing about. It'd mean a change of plan pub-wise too, as I had limited time now. The Ale was not as good as back in May, and so it was a blessing in disguise as I had a Lyme Bay Mead, which was decent if a little potent. It was a short walk to the station, but a fair old whack to the platform 12A that I needed. My food was great, although I'd have preferred a sit-down meal at the Bierhaus which had excellent last looking German food but they only opened in the evening. With the initial delay and subsequent diversion, I might be getting home an hour later than expected, though I'd play it by ear. The 13:23 to Goring and Streatley was bang on time, and I noted that Cholsey United were playing one stop down the line in the Oxfordshire Senior League, such was the geographical situation of the two clubs. We went right past Reading City FC, where Woodley United were playing Staines and Lammas in a Combined Counties D1 game. From the station, it was a short walk with me arriving ten minutes before kickoff.

 

Though primarily a Berkshire League, this Thames Valley Premier Division game featured a side from South Oxfordshire playing a side from Hampshire. Even so, such was their proximity to county borders, just under 17 miles seperated the two sides by road. Goring United had won the Thames Valley Division 1 last season. Tadley Calleva Reserves had finished 6th in this league last season with both teams playing their first league game of the season. It was an even opening but Goring missed a golden opportunity eight minutes in when they failed to capitalise on mix up in the visitors defence. An injury to the Tadley keeper resulted in a delay and an outfielder going in goal. Following this, Tadley had a good spell but didn't really threaten as slight drizzle started to fall. On a break, the stand-in keeper made a fantastic save to keep the game goalless. Tadley took the lead around five minutes before halftime, bundling home a cross. Just before the break, it was 2-0, a shot into the top of the net from just inside the area. On 49 minutes, it was 3-0, the Goring keeper could only get a hand to the shot as Tadley made it 3-0 with a low shot from around the penalty spot. That was it as far as scoring was concerned, and Goring United's debut in the Thames Valley Premier ended with a bit of a whimper.

THE GROUND

SHEEPCOT FIELD is a rather basic venue with no rail or dugouts. The pitch surround is a rope and the dugouts are just chairs. There's a hut that sells snacks and soft and hot drinks. The club is communicative on Twitter, and there is plenty of parking. Public transport-wise, Goring and Streatley station is five minutes walk away and this links the village with the likes of London, Reading and Didcot.