Lyndhurst FC
Wellands Road
Lyndhurst
Hampshire
SO43 7AD
Ground Number: 1078
Friday 17th June 2022
Lyndhurst Ex Managers 2-10 Saints Legends
Charity Match
LYNDHURST FC - A BRIEF HISTORY
The club was established in 1885 but as with many clubs at this level, very little is known about their early years. They were known as Lyndhurst St Johns up until 2007. In 2004, they became founder members of the Hampshire League 2004, although this was at a fairly lowly level of step 9. They spent three mid-table seasons here before becoming founder members of the Hampshire Premier League in 2007. This was a signifigant step up with the league sitting at step 7 of the non-league pyramid. They had three respectable seasons here but resigned midway through the 2010/11 season. They'd spend a season out of football before rejoining the Hampshire League 2004 in 2012. They were champions in their first season and won promotion to the Hampshire League Division 1. After a number of decent seasons, they were champions in 2019. Although they had a decent start back in the Hampshire Premier League Senior Division, the competition was abandoned due to Covid. The same was true of 2021/22 although Lyndhurst would have been glad to have seen the back of it, having lost all 13 games. The poor form continued into last season as they finished rock bottom of the table. Player availability was a big issue as they forfeited two games. Their only win came against third-bottom Overton United - a 5-2 home win. They also gained a 2-2 draw at home to Clanfield towards the end of the season.
Lyndhurst is a large village situated in the New Forest in Hampshire. Serving as the administrative capital of the New Forest, it is a popular tourist attraction, with many independent shops, art galleries, cafés, museums, pubs and hotels. The nearest city is Southampton, about nine miles to the north-east. The poupulation is around 3,000. The name derives from an Old English name, comprising the words lind (lime tree) and hyrst (wooded hill). The village shares it's named with comedy actor Nicholas Lyndhurst, although he is not from the village. The most well known person from the area is hurdy gurdy musician Nigel Easton.
EX SAINTS LEGENDS
As the name suggests, this team was made up of ex-Southampton FC players. By far the most famous of these is Matt Le Tissier. Known nowadays for his conspiracy theories about Covid-19 and Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, he has upset a lot of people and been 'cancelled' by a number of organisations as a result. However, his promotion and appearance for this charity match is commendable and I've always been a fan of free speech, within reason of course. Back in the 1990s, he was a fantastic footballer for Southampton, scorer of many long-range goals and nicknamed 'Le God' by the Saints fans. Pretty much a one-club man, it shows the depth of talent that we had back then that he only got 8 caps for England. I only saw him live a few times and although he showed some fine touches in a 1996 friendly at Wycombe Wanderers, he failed to score past goalkeeper Brian Parkin who was never the finest keeper for Wycombe, his best days behind him. Wycombe won 1-0 against a star-studded Southampton side thanks to a goal from Terry Evans. The year before Wycombe had beaten the Saints 2-1 and Le Tissier had got onto the scoresheet thanks to a free-kick. I also saw him play in four of his eight England caps as I used to watch the Friendly games under Terry Venables at the time.
He was not the only famous name in the side. Wayne Shaw hit national fame for eating a pie live on TV whilst substitute keeper and coach at Sutton United when they played Arsenal in the FA Cup. He started out as a youngster at Southampton, playing in the same youth team as Alan Shearer. Other notable names were Glen Cockerill who I remember playing for Woking at the tail end of his career. Jason Dodd, James Beattie, Jo Tessem and David Howells were also players I remember from watching Match Of The Day.
MY VISIT
The 'close season' had felt a lot longer than it actually was. The first weekend of the Jubilee was my least favourite of the year. Two Bank Holidays which are as bad as Sundays at work and extremely busy. I didn't even have the respite of a decent Saturday, A walk down town, a couple of pints and dinner had been the plan. However rain put paid to that, typically, it had been lovely and sunny whilst I'd been stuck in work. Instead, with little opportunity to get out and see a game, I had to settle for a game on the TV and wish I hadn't bothered. Hungary got a deserved win over England but it was exceedingly dull to watch. It was also the time of the season when I needed to update all the league changes on this blog and that took plenty of time. Things changing what with Walton Casuals folding meant that I'd still have some work to do, but at least the bulk of it was done. It also meant that I could work out what I could offer my hoppers within their budgets. This was not helped by the rapidly increasing costs of petrol with it going up over 50p a litre over the course of the last year.
I'd discovered this game thanks to Tony Incenzo's appeal for charity games and the self-proclaimed 'Non-League Ambassador' does a good job of raising awareness of events. I was trying to arrange friendlies to go to but as with a lot of things on the internet, the information is so fragmented. The day of the game came and it was the hottest day of the year. Of course, this brings out the less desirable elements of society and work was tough amongst the general public. I also had to make adjustments for Colin who had been delayed getting back from Wolverhampton, so I would have to go to Wycombe train station to pick him up. I had plenty of time to kill anyway and left work just after 3. I met Colin at the station at 3.20. We were soon on our way, as ever with Greatest Hits radio providing the soundtrack. It was a mixed journey, the worst of the delays on the M3 near Winchester. We were in Lyndhurst by 5 30, parking in the village car park as instructed by the helpful event page on Facebook. We stopped at the Imperial China on the walk to the ground, with me having my usual salt and pepper chips for £3.30. They were decent, if not the biggest portion. From there it was 5 minutes to the ground where it was £6 entry and £2 programme. It was a nice atmosphere and I was glad to be getting my season started.
The game kicked off at 6:45 and I thought the goalkeeper Wayne Shaw had lost a bit of timber. That's because it was Ian Turner, the FA Cup winner who had 'Fat Boy' on the back of his shirt. The Southampton side dominated proceedings and they took the lead on 6 minutes through David Hughes. He put home a left-sided ball from close range on six minutes. James Beattie chipped just over on ten minutes. Matt Le Tissier forced a good save on 16 minutes, the goalkeeper tipping a shot around the post. Beattie missed a one-on-one on 20 minutes, shooting straight at the keeper. The lead was doubled on 22 minutes, a placed shot from just inside the area by Le Tissier. Lyndhurst did get a goal back on 35 minutes, a ball knocked home following a cross from the left. There was a more traditional Le Tiss goal on 36 minutes, a beautiful half volley that found the top corner from the edge of the area to make it 3-1. On 40 minutes, it was 4-1, a low shot from the edge of the area by Leroy Whale. Lyndhurst came close to pulling another back before half time. A few subs happened at half time, including Paul Jones taking over in goal. I missed the goal on 50 minutes that made it 5-1 Saints due to Colin's excessive talking. James Beattie finally got on the scoresheet on 52 minutes, although the marking was poor as he slotted home from the edge of the area. On 62 minutes Jamie Webb made it 7-1, cutting in from the left with a lovely lob from 25 yards. It was 8-1 on 70 minutes, Beattie finishing a good through ball. Former Doncaster man Colin Cramb missed a penalty on 77 minutes and that gave Lyndhurst a chance to pull a goal back on 80 minutes. Beattie completed his hat trick on 80 minutes, outpacing the defence and finishing well. The scoring was finished on 84 minutes, Webb getting his second from close range to make it 10-2. Lyndhurst had another chance but Jones made a good save to deny them.
It had been a great evening at a really friendly club and I was glad I made the effort. We left at around 8.35 and made good time. It was a nice nostalgic evening for me as I could name 50 Southampton players from the 90s but struggle with one in the current squad. The memory of Matt Le Tissier's appearance on 'Fantasy Football League' came back to me after a Portsmouth fan called him a 'scummer' only to be told 'I thought this show was supposed to be about the Premiership!' I dropped Colin off at 10 and got home 20 minutes later. I stayed up having a couple of drinks, going to bed around 1 after typing my blog.
THE GROUND
WELLANDS ROAD is a basic venue, but good for step 7. Upon my visit, there were various stalls which I doubt turn up on normal days. At the ground is a railed pitch and a small car park. A short walk away is a lovely village with a great range of pubs and takeaways and other shops.
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