Wednesday, 2 April 2025

Queens Park Crescents -Allen Park


Queens Park Crescents FC
Allen Park
Old Ford End Road
Bedford 
Bedfordshire
MK40 4LY









Ground Number: 1409
Wednesday 2nd April 2025
Queens Park Crescents 2-1 Flitwick Town
Beds County Premier







QUEENS PARK CRESCENTS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The exact formation year of the club is unclear, but they first competed in the Bedfordshire County League during the 2009/10 season, when they were Division 3 champions. Four seasons were spent in Division 2 before another promotion was achieved in 2014 following a third-place finish. In 2017, Queens Park Crescents were Division 1 champions and were promoted to the Premier Division. They've been there ever since, winning the title in 2021. Local honours include the Beds County League Centenary Cup in 2016 & 2017. Bedford Town FC used this ground for four seasons after their reformation in 1989, They played for a couple of seasons in the South Midlands League Division 1 between 1991 & 1993, winning the title in the latter season before moving to their current ground.


MY VISIT

I was delighted when the clocks went forward on Sunday, despite me losing an hour of sleep on probably the worst possible day of the week. I really like to make the most of my prized Saturday off which often includes a late night. Thankfully, it was a Wycombe Wanderers home game, meaning that even with my penchant for turning it into a day out, I would be in by 8 at the latest. The old days when I was a staunch viewer of Match Of The Day were gone too, just as well with a 3.55 alarm for work on Sunday. The loss of sheep for an hour was well worth it for what groundhoppers call 'Silly Season' - terminology for when step 7 and below clubs without lights have early evening kickoffs. This is manna from heaven for me with my early starts. Though it is not the nearest league, the Beds County League were the first commutable league to get in their fixtures and Wednesday was ideal with Wycombe Wanderers v Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday. They were not quite the first to take advantage of the lighter evenings. The Taff, Ely and Rhymney League had that honour on Monday, followed by more English leagues on Tuesday.


Thanks to a very large car bill and four weekends away, March had been extremely expensive. But I'd had a good time, even so, I was happy that I'd be doing some cheaper revisits for the next ten days. I'd had a good time in Belgium & France but was happy to get home so I could catch up and start winding down for my return to work on Wednesday. Not before though having to decide my entire time off for the next year before 6th April. It's long been a requirement in my job and I have to gamble with the hop dates not being decided yet. I am hoping that the 'first weekend in March' for the North West Counties Hop isn't the one that has two days in February as it could cause issues should I wish to attend. On Tuesday evening, I made a trip up to Holmer Green for their home game against runaway leaders Windsor & Eton. I was not expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised when Holmer comfortably won 2-0 with the best performance I've ever seen from them.
Three days back at work was a return to reality. With no viable Friday night football, I stayed in with a few Belgian beers, which were excellent. I got ahead of myself, starting work on my blogs for the South West Hop in a few weeks. Saturday brought Wycombe Wanderers v Lincoln City. The football was poor, the lunch a disappointment but at least we won. Sunday was a tiring one with a loss of an hour's sleep and I was glad to see the match was confirmed as going ahead. Being an Asian team, they had designated it as an 'Eid Special'. I'd seen plenty of clubs inviting the Muslim community to celebrate on their pitch including Wycombe Wanderers. Amongst the decent well-wishers were the usual bigots and idiots complaining about something that doesn't affect them. Hopefully, it will attract more of their community down to Adams Park to see a game one day.
It was my usual day off on Tuesday and the standard walk to town and back. The afternoon was spent at home before I headed out to Wycombe Wanderers v Shrewsbury Town. It started nicely, a pleasant walk, a couple of pints with Colin and an excellent Parmo for dinner. The match itself saw Wycombe play welly, have 32 shots and dominate. But wasteful finishing meant we could only draw 0-0 in front of a disappointing attendance of 3,806. At least I got over 17 miles of walking in. The day of the game saw my easiest shift of the week at work - six hours. It was disappointing to be paid below the minimum wage for the next two weeks, due to a technicality endorsed by the HMRC - all legal and above board apparently due to 'pay cycles'. I came home and spent the afternoon updating my Langford blog. I left at 3.45 in glorious sunshine. After picking Colin up at 4, we had a slow journey over to Bedford, getting there at 5.35. We headed straight to Ghost Kitchen, our pre-planned takeaway where I had a Smoky Burger meal for £9. It was busy, so it took a while. It was great when it came, very tasty. We headed back to the ground, arriving just as they kicked off.

 

Queens Park Crescents were in 5th place having gained 34 points from 17 games. They'd won three of their last four, the latest game a 2-0 win over Riseley Sports on Saturday. Flitwick Town were bottom with 14 points from 18 games. They'd been involved in some high-scoring games lately, going down 6-4 at Crawley Green Development on Saturday. They were three points behind Biggleswade Reserves who were a place above but had seven games in hand. Queens Park Crescents were well on top, the Flitwick keeper making some great saves and defenders some great clearances. Just before halftime, a good ball forward found #11 who took it down well and slotted past the keeper, 1-0 to the hosts. Flitwick rallied and started the second half well. The QPC keeper could only parry #7's shot and the same player followed up after another good through ball, 1-1 on 58 minutes. It was still the hosts well on top though, though Flitwick really had their keeper to thank for some great saves in the first half. A QPC player was pulled down outside the area and from the resulting free-kick, they took the lead from 20 yards on 75 minutes. Another great free kick on 85 minutes was tipped over by the Flitwick keeper to keep them in the game. As we lost light, the game ended with a bit of handbags following a foul on a QPC man before finishing at 19:56.

THE GROUND

ALLEN PARK is a very basic setup. Just a pitch with a removable rope surround. There's a changing room block but not much else. At least there is a load of parking and lots of takeaways within walking distance. A decent place is Ghost Kitchen, although allow time as they get busy and service takes a while.
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Sunday, 23 March 2025

SK Roeslaere - Schiervelde Stadion

SK Roeselaere
Schiervelde Stadion
Diksmuidsesteenweg 374
8800 Roeselare
Belgium







Ground Number: 1408
Sunday 23rd March 2025
SK Roeselaere 0-0 Dikkelvenne KSC
Tweede Afdeling VFV A








SK ROESELARE - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1975 as VK Dadizele. They spent their entire existence playing in the local provincial leagues, coming close to promotion to the national level in 2019. In 2021, the club merged with K.S.V. Roeselare, who had just gone bankrupt while playing in the third-tier Belgian National Division 1. The cancerous Dai Younge has caused much distress and damage to Reading FC and he had his filthy paws all over their downfall. The new club SK Roeselare-Daisel - continued at the sixth-tier First Provincial Division West-Flanders and won promotion in 2022 after finishing as runners-up to KSC Wielsbeke. In 2023, they changed their name to SK Roeselare and went on to finish 4th in Belgian Division 3 VVA. This qualified them for the playoffs and they beat Wielsbeke 3-2 before going on to lose 1-0 to Berg en Dal, Strangely, they still got through, albeit with a tougher draw. A 4-1 win at Welle saw them earn promotion along with Berg en Dal and champions Westhoek.


Roeselare is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The name of the city is derived from two Germanic words meaning "reed" and "open space", i.e., a marsh in a forest glade. It is famous for a couple of poets and is home to the Rodenbach Brewery which was established in 1821. The main language is French and the population is around 65,000. The rococo city hall on the central market square dates from the 18th century. The city hall, market hall, and belfry are classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site (part of the Belfries of Belgium and France).


MY VISIT

Out of all the days on our trip, this was the easiest and most simple to organise. It was also the only one that was confirmed before I left home on Friday morning. Colin's Dad and his mate Aldwin who was kindly putting us up in Ypres wanted to go to a pageant in Roeselare. This suited both Colin and me as there were a few good choices in Roeselare as opposed to Ypres. Club Roeselare and KFC Eendracht Hoglede were options, but SK Roeselare was the better stadium. When looking deeper into the club, I noticed that they were a phoenix club of sorts. I was not surprised to see that the architect of their downfall was the odious Reading FC owner, Dai Youngge. It was probably the place I was looking forward to the most in all honesty, a nice, simple, relaxed day out.


I was woken on the day of the game by Colin knocking on my door at 8.15. I'd had a great night's sleep due to the previous night's drinking. Once I'd got dressed, we went to the local bakery and I got a roll and an iced bun for breakfast. After going back and typing my blog for yesterday, we walked up to KVK Westhoek, the local team in Ypres. It was a decent setup and well worth retaining to at some point. We then walked to the bus station to get to Roeselare as all of the trains were out of action due to engineering works. We got the 11.50 bus which took around an hour to get to Roeselare. After popping in a local shop, we headed towards the ground. I'd planned in a visit to a place called Fritteur Dave but the place was closed despite us being within the opening hours. We had no option but to head to the ground where we paid 10 Euros to get in. They had an interesting selection of food and I went for Pesto Quattro Formaghi with extra bacon for £6.71 or 8 Euros. It was excellent, as was the Kasteel Rouge I had with it. People were really friendly and glad we had come to see them from England.

 

SK Roeselaere were top of the league, clear by nine points. They had won four and lost one of their last five, last Saturday they won 2-0 at SK Brakel. Dikkelvenne were 4th and had won two and drawn three of their last five. Last Saturday saw a 2-2 draw against RC Harelbeke. It was a dull first half in terms of chances but Roeselare were well on top. More chances came in the second half, the hosts hit the post when it looked easier to score. They came closer when a Dikkelvenne keeper made a great save to prevent an own goal. With five minutes to go, they thumped the bar from range and it looked as if it might be one of those days for them. That was how it ended, despite more chances late on. It wasn't the best, nor the worst game I've seen but Dikkelvenne offered very little aside from defending.

 

From there we headed back to town to meet up with Alan, Aldwin and his family at a chicken place. After that, we got the bus back to Ypres. We were back by 7 and went to an excellent place called Markt 22 where I had a great steak, chips and a couple of Kriek beers. From there it was to Kafee Bazaar, a place with a stupendous choice of over 600 beers. A few new Kriek Lambics were enjoyed from local small breweries and I enjoyed joining in with some people singing along to Y Viva Espana. The song was originally written by a Belgian and released in Dutch which sent me down a Wikipedia rabbit hole. Colin enjoyed his apple juice but his Dad stuck to one as he had to drive in the morning and was getting old. The bill was a bit of a shock with my choices costing 18 Euros each. But my view was that I wasn't going to be able to get them anywhere else and they were from very obscure Micro and Nano breweries. It had been a great weekend in good company, I can worry about the finances later, although I might have to break into my savings. It was a couple more back at the room while I typed this blog.


THE GROUND 

THE NEST is a great ground for the level and is also the home of the reserves side of Club Brugge, Club NXT. The main stand is elevated and holds around 2,000. A large seated stand behind the goal seats around 3,000. On the far side is a small stand with a combination of sitting and standing, holding 1000. Behind the goal is open terracing holding 1,500. A pleasant bar offers a decent range including Kasteel Rouge. The food van outside is also excellent, offering burgers, hot dogs and pasta. There's plenty of parking and for public transport, the town is half an hour away.



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Royal Sassport Boezinge - Terrein Sassport Boezinge


Royal Sassport Boezinge
Terrein Sassport Boezinge
Dekemelelaan 5
8904 Boezinge
Belgium








Ground Number: 1407
Saturday 22nd March 2025
Sassport Boezinge 2-0 KFC Moen
1E Provincial West-Vlanderen









ROYAL SASSPORT BOEZINGE - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established as Sassport Boezinge in 1952. They were in the fourth tier of provincial football in the 70s, progressing to the third in the next decade. Rapid progress around the turn of the millennium saw promotions in 1999 and 2002 to reach the summit of amateur football. Better was to follow in 2013 when they reached the national level at the fourth tier of Dutch football. Despite finishing 10th in their last season, they were relegated back to semi-pro football in 2015. A reorganisation of Dutch football occurred in 2016, making the First Provincial the fourth tier. Boezinge have been there ever since, finishing as high as 3rd in 2023.


Boezinge is a village in the Belgian province of West Flanders and a sub-municipality of the city of Ypres , it was an independent municipality until the municipal reorganization of 1977. An 1846 census listed, among other things, three blacksmiths, four breweries, a lime kiln, two brickworks and two starch factories. At the outbreak of the First World War, Boezinge had to deal with refugees from Mechelen and the surrounding area. When the Germans attacked the civilian population on Schuwe Maandag in Roeselare ( 19 October 1914 ), a second wave of refugees arrived from the eastern villages of Oostnieuwkerke, Passendale, Westrozebeke, Staden, Poelkapelle and the like. The first gas attack took place on 22 April 1915.


During the First Battle of Ypres, despite the dangers, part of the population remained there. After the Second Battle of Ypres, Boezinge became a ghost town. Nothing remained of the buildings; the church was also completely destroyed. It was not until the summer of 1919 that the first Boezinge residents returned. At first, they lived in wooden barracks and it took years to rebuild their village. Various war cemeteries, war monuments and bunkers still bear witness to this period. Saint Michael is the patron saint of Boezinge.


MY VISIT 

This weekend was decided way back in January when Colin and his Dad invited me to stay at their friend's house in Ypres. As Colin mentioned it about a thousand times previously, just as fellow hopper Daniel has with Ireland, I felt it would be rude to turn it down. It was also going to be financially kind after an extremely expensive month. The only issue was, that after looking at the options, football-wise, there was barely anything on. Had I been making this trip independently, there was no chance that I'd have chosen here, but I had agreed to it and it would be good to help Colin get his first non-UK tick, despite him thinking the world revolves around him on several occasions. I could make a plan of sorts from the scraps on offer, even digging deep to find us a Friday night game. As the week approached, I wasn't overly looking forward to it, as I feared that I'd not be able to get France done.

 

As it was, fortune smiled on me and I had a brilliant time in Bolougne. France was probably my second favourite country for football after Poland, and the best for food and drink. It was only 20 minutes walk back to my hotel where I typed my blog and had a drink. I was asleep around midnight, before being woken up by noisy seagulls around 6 am. It meant plenty of time to get ready for when it came to leave at 8.25. We were at the station 20 minutes before the train, our platform had several homeless asylum seekers camping on it. Not much in terms of facilities at the station but the train was on time, comfortable and decent value at £17.57. We had a 25 minutes wait at Les Fontiers before train two to Hazebrouck. Colin has a sleep (Le Gorille Dort) whilst I looked at options for my second June week off. I narrowed it down to Iceland, Ireland, Faroe Islands or Lithuania with all having pros and cons.

 

We arrived into Hazebrouck at 10.50 and it looked like a nice place. A small bus was 20 minutes wait and this got us to Poperinge. It was a nice scenic journey with us spotting a ground in Steenvoorde on the way that looked like it was worth a visit. The same could be said of the one in Poperinge, where we changed buses. We were at Ypres around 12.40 where we met Colin's Dad and went to his friend Aldwin's house. There we had a nice lunch before going out and looking at the war memorials. We then headed out for a couple of drinks in some nice bars. The highlight of the four I tried was the Rodenbach Grand Cru, made locally in Roeselare. I took another bottle to drink with me on the bus called Barbar Rouge, another great drop. The restaurant that we had planned did not open until 5.30 so we headed to Spar. Two Kriek beers, one new, a soft drink and some Pringles filled the gap. The ground was a nice surprise, proper stand and you could walk the whole way around.
 

Sassport Boezinge sat 2nd in the league having won two, drawn one and lost two of their last five.In their last game, they lost 1-0 at KFC Rumbeke. Visitors KFC Moen were 8th, having drawn four and lost one of their last five. Their last game was a 2-2 draw against Royal Racing Waregem. Sassport started brightly and they took the lead on 13 minutes, a finish from wide on the left. Lots of pressure followed and it was all from the hosts, a rather one sided game. They made it 2-0 with an excellent 30 yard free kick to seal the win, which was well deserved. From there, it was an 80 minute walk back to Ypres. We met Alan and Aldwin, sadly not in my favoured bar. But I was still in great spirits, having a great Mojito and then, one of the ciders back in my room. A good buzz it gave me, but I decided to leave my blog until the following morning, due to being pissed.

THE GROUND

The ground was a better venue than I was expecting, you can walk the whole way around. There's only one covered area, holding around 300 seated and 50 standing to the side. Parking is plentiful and bus 92 from Ypres runs close by. There was a bar at the ground and there was a Spar and a couple of restaurants nearby, but not much else.


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