Cuffley - King George V Playing Fields

Cuffley FC

King George V Playing Fields

Northaw Road East

Cuffley

Hertfordshire

EN6 4RD

07815 174434

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Ground Number: 1072
Wednesday 27th April 2022
Cuffley 1-1 Chipperfield Corinthians
Herts Senior County Premier

CUFFLEY FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1954 and over the years has expanded to include over 25 teams under the mantra 'Football For All'. After playing in local leagues such as the Barnet League and North London Combination, they joined the Herts Senior County League in 1974 and remain there to this day. They started out in Division 3 and finished as runners-up in 1976 to seal promotion to Division 2. Two years later, they were champions, going up to Division 1. They'd remain here until 1991 when they won promotion to the Premier Division, following a 4th place finish. The club were Premier Division champions in 1998 and 1999 but were unable to take the step up into semi-pro football because of a lack of facilities. This was the highest finish in the club's history but in 2004, they finished bottom and went back down to Division 1 for the first time in 15 years. They'd return to the Premier Division in 2009 and remain there to this day, more often than not finishing in the top half of the table.

The village of Cuffley has a population of around 4,300 and is located near Cheshunt and Potters Bar in Hertfordshire. On 3 September 1916, the German airship SL 11 was shot down and crashed in Cuffley during an aerial bombardment intended for London. This incident is commemorated by a memorial on East Ridgeway to Lieutenant W. Leefe Robinson, the pilot who shot the airship down; he was awarded the Victoria Cross. There is also a model of the airship in the village hall. Contrary to many reports of the incident, the SL 11 airship was not a Zeppelin but an army Schütte-Lanz airship. Regardless, the local football team is still nicknamed 'The Zeps' after this event. Its most notable current resident is Sir Terry Leahy, former CEO of Tesco, although this did not prevent locals from objecting vehemently to plans to build a "Express" store in the village replacing one of only two remaining village pubs. Other famous residents include Premier League footballers Ledley King, Jermain Defoe, Niko Kranjcar, David Bentley, Kyle Walker and Armand Traoré; and also former Sugababes singer Keisha Buchanan and Myleene Klass.

MY VISIT

What with the evenings getting lighter, it was a great opportunity to get some grounds without lights visited. Getting back early was the main blessing with work in the morning. If they were close by, then all the better. I'd already completed the Spartan South Midlands League at step 7 and had enjoyed this. Another local league was the Hertfordshire League and with the vast majority of the grounds being decent, I decided to complete all the teams in this league too. Probably the most wanted for me was Sandridge Rovers, this would hopefully involve a good day out in St Albans. For midweek ones, Cuffley was pretty near the top. I'd spotted a game against Chipperfield Corinthians and decided to go for it. I'd visited their opponent's ground a while back and it was a good night.

@ChipCorinthians worth sharing pic.twitter.com/3nIzT5nRU2

— Tommy W-Garratt (@Tommyw_g) April 27, 2022

On the day of the game, it was work once more. The trip there was ruined by them mentioning the upcoming Bank Holiday on the radio. Along with Sunday, it'll be a double dose of misery for me, at work and dealing with the less desirable members of the general public. Normal weekdays are fine generally, but for some reason, Sundays and Bank Holidays seem to attract the dregs and their large litters of children causing havoc and packing the place out. I think Wednesday is the earliest I've started not looking forward to a Sunday, though my mood was lifted by finally finding a game for Saturday. Seaford Town v Shoreham in the Southern D1 playoff final looks a decent game. Now I just need to work out how to make a good day of it, possibly including working out if I can get coverage of Wycombe's crunch game at Burton in the playoffs. I came home and had a couple of hours at home, catching up with my blogs amongst other things. It was not as long as I'd have liked but I got most things I wanted done. I had a quick dinner before leaving at 5.30 and made good time, arriving in Cuffley 50 minutes later. I was happy as the car park started to fill up, allaying fears of a wasted journey. I met fellow hopper Chris Walker who does online commentary of games, although he was taking the day off tonight.

 

It was a top 5 clash with Cuffley in third and Chipperfield Corinthians in sixth. The hosts were in reasonable form. They'd won three of their last six including a 3-1 win at Welwyn Garden City in their latest game. They'd also beaten Cockfosters 2-1 and Hatfield Town 1-0. They'd drawn 1-1 at Hatfield Town and lost 3-0 to St Albans City and 3-2 at Royston Town. The visitors were unbeaten in four and had won their latest game 3-0 at Colney Heath. They'd also beaten Royston Town 1-0 and drawn 1-1 against Belstone and 3-3 against Welwyn Garden City. Defeats had come as they lost 2-0 to Colney Heath in the Aubrey Cup and 3-2 at Hoddesdon Town. The game didn't kick off until 6.50 with Cuffley in their usual maroon strip and Chipperfield in their change strip of sky blue. Both sides came close in the opening five minutes, Chipperfield having a shot narrowly wide and Cuffley hitting the woodwork following a corner. The visitors probably had the better of the chances, but it was the hosts who took the lead on the half-hour, Sam Wilson heading in a right-sided cross from around six yards. The Cuffley keeper made a couple of great saves just before halftime to keep his side ahead. The second half started at 7.45 and things were getting quite niggly with a careless tackle apiece requiring the physio to come on and give treatment. It was a fantastic equaliser for Chipperfield on 57 minutes, Joshua Keane taking the ball down well before lashing it into the top left corner from 25 yards. The visitors continued to press and forced a good save at the left-hand post just after. From the resulting corner, Cuffley broke and could have retaken the lead themselves.

It had got quite nippy in the past couple of days and maybe summer might be over already as I needed my warm hat second half.  The game died down a bit in the second half, not helped by the rapidly fading light. By the time the game finished at 8.35, there was barely any daylight left. On the way home, I decided to listen to Bedfont Sports v Hanwell Town in the Isthmian D1 Central playoff final. I was rooting for Hanwell as the hospital I was born in was yards from where the ground is. I got home at 9.20 with Hanwell leading 3-1. They had ex-Wycombe player Sam Saunders playing for them and a Wycombe fan - Keith Higgins - doing the commentary on Live Sports FM. I decided to stay up and type my blog whilst watching Coronation Street. I did fancy a game Friday but in the end, I decided to stay in and concentrate on Seaford on Saturday.

THE GROUND

The KING GEORGE V PLAYING FIELD is a good setup for the level. The pitch is fully railed and set in nice surroundings although the open nature of the ground means it can get a bit chilly. There's a smart clubhouse behind one goal which offers a basic range of food and drink. There's plenty of car parking also but I don't recall seeing many bus routes or anything else near the ground.