Letcombe FC
Bassett Road
Letcombe Regis
Wantage
Oxfordshire
OX12 9JU
01235 764130
Ground Number: 947
Saturday 17th April 2021
Letcombe 1-1 Wantage Town Development
Hellenic Chairmans Cup
LETCOMBE FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
Though the establishment date of the club is unclear, records of football in the village go back as far as 1910 when they were members of the Wantage Division of the North Berks League. The club would stay here, on and off for 80 years and honours include overall champions (1913 & 1990) & Division 2 champions in 1985. In 1990, they moved up to the Chiltonian League, winning Division 1 at the first attempt. Their first season in the Premier Division bought an excellent 4th place finish and after the next season produced a mid-table finish, they joined the Hellenic League in 1993. They'd enjoy a 25-year stay here, their best finish coming in 2004 when they finished as runners-up behind local rivals Wantage Town. However, due to a local of floodlights, the club was unable to accept promotion. In 2018, the club was forced to take a further demotion to Division 2 thanks to the lack of lights, but they instead took their reserves place in the North Berks Division 3, winning the title and losing just one league game all season. Last season, they rejoined the Hellenic League and were top of Division 2 West when the season was declared null and void. They were moved to Division 2 South this time out, but again the season was abandoned with Letcombe sitting 5th.
Local cup honours include the North Berks Cup in 1988, beating Saxton Rovers 1-0 in the final. The club's record attendance of 203 came for a Hellenic League Hop game on 29th August 2004 when they beat Old Woodstock Town 3-1. The small village of Letcombe Regis has a population of just 568 and was part of Berkshire up until 1974. There is a pub, the Greyhound Inn and a village hall whilst the Church of St Andrew is a Grade II listed building. The nearest town is Wantage.
MY VISIT
For this Saturday, it looked as if there wouldn't be many 3 PM kick-offs due to the funeral of Prince Philip. The FA had made contact with the DCMS and had subsequently 'recommended' that no football take place between 2.45 and 4.15. This changed to a 'directive' according to some leagues, meaning that few would dare to go against the heavy-handed advice. All this fuss over what basically was a celebrity, though to be fair, 7 in 10 people support the monarchy according to online surveys, though that's certainly not the case amongst the people I know. As much as he (cleverly) cheated against our country, there was more outpouring of grief at the death of Diego Maradona than there was for our own controversial figure. In my opinion, a minute's respectful silence would have sufficed, offering individual clubs the option of moving should they wish. It spoke volumes that the FA couldn't wait to contact the DCMS over a bout of flag-waving virtue signalling but couldn't be bothered to arrange the return of fans at grounds, that had been in grounds, safely in grounds from August to December. Gestures mean nothing with the FA though, last January games kicked off a minute late due to the important issue of mental health. However fans mental health wasn't worth the effort a couple of weeks ago, for many, the great release at the end of a tough week is going to a game, though that chance was now taken away from them - unless the game happened to be played on public land.
The Football Traveller arrived as usual on Thursday and I didn't envy poor editor Chris Bedford having to deal with all the FA nonsense and to have the royal funeral on top. Most games seemed to be kicking off early, but there was a notable late game at Glapwell (16:30) at a ground that was council-owned and that had seen service much higher up the pyramid. Overall, the choice was bewildering though but I was hoping for a double (or more) if possible. Blidworth was the only decent double and although it was on private ground, they offered me an invite as a guest of the club. However, after discussion with fellow hopper Anwar, we decided to stay local given the amount of red tape, opting for Letcombe v Wantage Town Development. There was also a potential game later on at my local Hazlemere Rec - Hazlemere Sports v Risborough Rangers Development. However, this would depend on how I felt when I got home, as it's as basic as you can get with not even a rail around the pitch. In the end, it was all academic as, by Friday afternoon, it was called off. I was disappointed as I was going to recall and tell the story of when two local ice cream men had a punch up down my street, but for now, it will have to wait. To get over the disappointment, I had a couple of ciders on Friday night but was in bed shortly after 9. As a result, I woke up at my normal work time of 6 and so after having breakfast and a wash, I got dressed and went for my usual Saturday morning walk. I got home to find the reason that my proposed afternoon game was cancelled was due to Hazlemere being unable to raise a team for the 4.15 kick-off, pretty poor viewing from the outside, but they obviously had their reasons. I had a look through the fixtures for Tuesday, there were slim pickings, but Somersham Town looks promising if they allow fans. I left at 10.30, meeting Anwar at 11. It was a slow journey over for the most part, thanks to the primitive nature of the roads but we were there by 12.15. We got some pictures on what was a pleasant day before taking up a spot between the dugouts.
Neither side had played a huge amount of games this season due to a combination of restrictions and the weather. Letcombe had beaten Wallingford Town Reserves 4-0 and won 8-1 at Woodstock Town in the league as well as a narrow 2-1 win over The Globe Swindon in the Faringdon Memorial Cup in the previous midweek. They'd drawn 0-0 at runaway league leaders Hungerford Town Swifts in this competition last Saturday and had drawn 1-1 at Clanfield 85 and 0-0 at home to Highworth Town Reserves. They'd also suffered a 1-0 defeat at home to today's opponents last October. Wantage Town Development. The visitors' other results had seen a 3-3 draw at Woodcote and a 2-0 win over Cricklade Town in their latest game. Letcombe hit the left-hand post early on from a free-kick but it was Wantage who took the lead in the first half thanks to a goal from Keiran Kerby after the Letcombe keeper could only palm the shot into his own net at the neat post. The overly fussy referee Mr Vallance was very whistle-happy and that could have spoiled a combative game but it was end to end action. In the second half, there was a minor scuffle after a late Wantage tackle, so much so that the Letcombe #6 had his hands around his opponent's neck but for once the man in black was lenient, showing only a yellow card to the visiting player. Letcombe equalised on 75 minutes, heading home from a free-kick and on pure effort they deserved it, though they lacked the finesse of Wantage in the final third. The hosts had the bit between their teeth and pushed forward though their winger tried to put a ball in, saw his cross blocked and got a ball back in his face for his troubles. From that, the visitors broke quickly and a forward used his pace to get into the box. He was chopped down and his side were presented with an 89th-minute chance to win the game. However, a brilliant save from the Letcombe keeper ensured his side grabbed a share of the spoils. The ref seemingly could wait to get home, playing no injury time at all and it was a real shame as it had been an absorbing contest.
The game had been an entertaining contest but had drawn a disappointing crowd of just 22 for a local derby. When we left, we were in good spirits, with Wycombe having taken a shock 2-0 lead at Swansea. However, by the time we'd walked back to the car, it was 2-2 and we felt bitter disappointment, though there should have been immense pride at getting a draw at high-flying Swansea, our result ensuring that Norwich City won promotion back to the Premier League. I'd spotted Q Gardens Farm Shop on the way to the game and decided to stop and see if they had any local ciders. They obliged and I picked up a couple from Berkshire maker Tutts Clump - namely 'The Legend' and 'Scrumpy'. Both were new ticks for me and so I was in a decent mood as I returned to the car. I was hoping to listen to a summary of the Wycombe game on BBC Three Counties Radio but instead, they were force-feeding everyone coverage of the funeral despite it being on several other BBC channels. You couldn't even get away from it on Union Jack Radio but we eventually found peace on Absolute 80s. It was generally a better journey home, though we did get stuck behind a slow vehicle towing on a road that had more twists and turns than a Coronation Street plotline. Eventually, I got past though and dropped Anwar off at 3.35. I was home half an hour later, passing Holmer Green FC on the way, who had a 4.15 kick-off against Chalvey Sports. I was half tempted to walk up there and sneak through a hole in the hedge but in the end, I opted to stay in and do my blog. I enjoyed my ciders whilst I did so and would spend the rest of the evening watching YouTube, having dinner and doing Jay's Virtual Pub Quiz with the folks.
THE GROUND
BASSETT ROAD is an excellent venue for the level. Set amongst pleasant countryside, the pitch is fully railed with a decent amount of hard standing. There's also an Arena stand seating 50. There's plenty of parking but aside from the village hall, there's not much around with the Greyhound pub a short walk away.
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