Fremad Valby - Valby Sportspark

Fremad Valby FC

Valby Idrætspark

Julius Andersens Vej 1

2450 København SV

Denmark

Official Website

Facebook

Ground Number: 1313
Friday 31st May 2024
Fremad Valby 4-0 Vigerslev BK

Konnhavnsseries

FREMAD VALBY FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

FREMAD VALBY were established in 1904 and adopted their red and white colours soon after. The Fremad translates to English as 'Forward' and Valby is a district of the Danish capital Copenhagen. The club have been playing their home games at Valby Idrætspark since 1913, at either the venue's exhibition ground or one of several adjacent football fields without a grandstand.The club has been described as a working-class team focusing on amateurism and including minorities rather than having an elite profile. Fremad Valby have played 10 seasons in the Danish third tier, during 1979–1983 and 1986–1990, but has primarily played in the lower-ranking amateur leagues throughout their history. Their best finush was in the 1986 Danish 3rd Division East, three points from a promotion to the second tier.  During their tenure in the professional leagues, the management decided to only have a squad consisting of players with amateur status. The club have reached the third round proper of the Danish Cup on three occasions, in 1958, 1964 and 1983 The club's record attendance at their home ground was set in 1987, when 2,095 spectators watched the match against BK Fremad Amager. The club plays in the Danish 6th tier nowadays, a level below their more common fifth-tier status.

Valby is one of ten districts of Copenhagen, with it evolving from a village to a larger area with a population of around 46,000. Valby Hill marks the boundary between Valby and the more central and urban neighbouring Vesterbro district. The expression "west of Valby Hill" is in Danish is often used as a metonym for "the provinces" or "outside Copenhagen". Separated from the rest of Copenhagen by Vestre Cemetery, Denmark's largest cemetery, towards Vesterbro/Kongens Enghave and Søndermarken-Frederiksberg Gardens towards Frederiksberg, the Carlsberg brewery site, and areas of low density, Valby retains a certain air of 'independence', or isolation, even today. This is likely to change with the progressing redevelopment of the Carlsberg area into a new lively, high-density neighbourhood. Other former industrial sites are also under redevelopment and Valby is today one of the districts in Copenhagen with the fastest-growing population.

When the first railway out of Copenhagen opened in 1847, a 30 km rail line to Roskilde, it had an intermediate station slightly east of where Valby station lies today. The station was originally meant to serve mostly leisure trips to nearby Frederiksberg; it had booming traffic in the railway's first years, dwindling as the novelty wore off. The station was closed in 1864 when the second main station in Copenhagen opened and the railway was rerouted through Frederiksberg station instead. During the construction of the new railway, when the tracks were dug through Valby Hill, a natural spring was discovered. This attracted the brewmaster J. C. Jacobsen to the site and he founded his Carlsberg Brewery in 1847 on the eastern slopes of the hill. In 1882, Carl Jacobsen, J. C. Jacobsen's son, opened his own brewery at a neighbouring site after a controversy with his father. Over the following decades, both breweries grew and were later merged.

MY VISIT

Back last year, I decided that I was going to end my 2023/24 season with a foreign trip. I booked the time off well in advance as my work insist upon. However, it was not until March this year that I decided upon my destination which as ever was decided upon by moving the pin around on Futbology until I found a set of games. I always like to get close to country borders to get as much value out of my trip as possible and so Denmark & Sweden were ideal in that respect. I checked that I could get between the two and was originally hoping to go to Norway too. However, it was not logistically possible without a plane or long trip, so I decided to stick with the two countries. Copenhagen is famed for being expensive and so it was no shock that accomodation was pricey. I always find a chance of a good night's sleep invaluable and so for that reason, dormitories and pod hotels were out of the question. I eventually settled on a self-catering place for £80 a night which had reasonable reviews and was on the cheaper side of the places I looked at. I had to commit to that place to get that price too, the only one of the three rooms that I had to pay in advance for.

I had chosen Copenhagen as there were plenty of games in the area. I initially favoured Brondby 2 as my game as the stadium looked great and it was a famous club which I remember playing as on European Club Soccer on the Sega Megadrive. However, there was no mention of the game on their website. I dug deeper and found that Fremad Valby had a game and their ground looked great. The club were also very responsive when I emailed, replying the next morning. I had enquired about ticket payment and souvenirs. The good news was that entry was free, negating the need to get cash out with Denmark having their own currency unlike most of Europe. There was disappointment that there was no merchandise for sale as I like to try and pick up something from every club I visit abroad. It seemed a friendly, welcoming club and I hoped that that was reflected when I visited them. I was really happy with my choice having seen more photos of the ground.

It had been a frustrating lack of football for me since my last blog with teams pulling out or changing venue left, right and centre. I'd already received the disappointing news that my game at Kensington Dragons on Monday had been moved to a school. Whilst that might appeal to some hoppers who like ticking off random pitches, I'm really only interested in seeing clubs on their normal home ground. Then on Friday, I was unable to go to the Stonewall and Camden United game on Friday due to having to pick up my Mum from the hospital after her foot operation. The main thing was, the op was a success. Instead, I had a sober night in and a nice fish curry from our local takeaway. I was very much looking forward to Saturday as I had a great-looking game between Wakering Sports & Harold Hill and with the title very much in the balance, I thought it very likely to go ahead.

However, I was wrong. After leaving home at 7.50 on Saturday, another club, Harold Wood Athletic messaged me to say that they'd spotted that the game was off. It was nice of them to look out for me but I was still disappointed in the away side. Their manager came on Twitter and defended the decision, citing that the players were unavailable, but it was still disappointing. I think that with teams containing more flakes than an i ce cream. My second and third choices at Hackney Marshes were also off and despite going down there, there was absolutely nothing on, despite a multitude of pitches. I decided to cut my losses and not try to see a game at Parsloes Hub. Already three pints and three Wetherspoons down, I decided to watch the FA Cup final in a pub. We were in great company, as we had earlier in the morning when we'd met some Manchester United fans in the first Spoons. Colin needed to pick up a ticket from another hopper and so we headed to Loughton to meet Adam.

What I thought was going to be a swift couple of pints turned into far more than that, five more in fact!. As fast as I could drink them, another turned up at the table as everyone apart from Colin got a round in. After all those drinks at the Hollybush in Loughton, I swayed my way down Loughton roads towards the station along witrh Colin and headed home. Obviously, I was done with booze for the day. I was back home just after 9. On reflection, had I been in a more sensible and better planning mode, I'd not have bothered with the pub and instead gone to visit some of the filming locations for the TV sitcom 'Goodnight Sweetheart'. However, Colin's constant jabbering doesn't give you time to think and maybe if I was on my own, I'd have had a better chance of finding a game too. At least it was fun, Manchester United won 2-0 against a surprisingly lacklustre Manchester City side. It was a slog of a shift on Sunday, nine hours and so I was glad not to suffer from hangovers. I just zoned out, kept my head down and sure enough, 6 PM eventually showed up. The rest of the week was a bit of a slog, bar Tuesday when I was off. The lack of football made it drag but I was hoping for a game at Kodak on Thursday.

The only problem was the opponent, Hilltop Reserves. They failed to answer messages sent by Kodak in the week prior. Then, when a phone call was made on Wednesday, they said that they would let them know whether they fancied playing either after their Wednesday night game or on the day of the game itself. A real Mickey take but typical of the half-arsed attitude of some of the teams in this league and others. Sure enough, the ignorant wasters pulled out at 10.15 the night before and as I'd always expected, it was a night in. It was a long hard day at work again and I was glad when 2PM came. As with pretty much every day for the past two years there was plenty of rain. I had a look at the forecast for the weekend and barring a couple of hours in Malmo on Saturday, it looked like I was going to have a dry and decent weekend weather-wise.

It was effectively a two-hour lie-in for me, getting up at 6 rather than 4 as I would for work. Rather than struggling to get going as I do for work, I was washed, ready and had breakfast around half an hour after getting up. A walk to the bus stop, a bus to Amersham the, tube to Liverpool Street and a train to Stansted saw me get there just before 10. I took advantage of a two-month free trial to Kindle Unlimited. This provided me with travel guides for the weekend but I most enjoyed a great book by YouTuber PPPeter called 'All The Places I Didn't Die'. The Stansted Express was reasonable value at £36.30 return, as were the couple of pints of Stowford Press I had in Wetherspoons after clearing security, £5.50 each. It was a bit of a farce boarding the plane with gates 40, 49,47 and finally 46 announced as our departure gate. Either way, we were late leaving, getting away at 1.10. Disappointing but could have been worse.

We landed just under an hour late after more delay on the runway. It was then an excruciatingly slow passport control at first but they opened some more desks after a while. I then got my transport ticket to cover all travel but Google Maps was not clear where the quicker bus left from. Instead, I got the slower metro. I was at my room at 5.30, a lot later than I'd hoped. There was only time to sling my bag in the room, have a quick drink and head out straight away. The buses were far nicer than the metro with air conditioning and far quieter. I had to jog but I arrived just as they kicked off. 

Fremad Valby were in 6th place in the table. They'd been in mixed form, winning two, drawing one and losing two of their last five. Vigerslev BK were in 9th and was one of a number of clubs that shared at Valby Sports Park. Last time out they had drawn 3-3 with PI Football. In the reverse game, Vigerslev triumphed 1-0. The opening saw Valby have the better of the game and they very quickly took a commanding lead. A shot that went straight through the keeper on 7 minutes, a looping shot over the keeper's head on 14 minutes and a low follow-up shot after a keeper parry on 18 minutes. Vigerslev started to get into the game more after that and had a good spell. From a quick break though, Fremad Valby made it 4-0 on 50 minutes. In the last five minutes of the match, a Vigerslev man threw a tantrum when he didn't get the penalty he wanted and was booked. His side were second best but maybe the scoreline was a tad harsh as Valby were clinical. There was a bit of a fracas near the end following a late tackle but the referee soon put a stop to it and sent the Valby man off.

From the game, it was 15 minutes walk to the train station at Copenhagen South. It was a lot easier to understand than the buses but I just missed the first train. They were pretty regular and it was just seven minutes wait for the next one. I was in a decent mood but fancied a drink. There was a great-looking place called the Lord Nelson Bar which made its own real cider. Very nice it was too. Then onto the Taphouse. The first drink, Frenetic Rebel was free as I had the last of the barrel. The second, Saftig Syre from Denmark was decent but not as good as the other two. Then a cherry beer called Duchesse which was also cracking. Finally, the last pub of the night, the BrewPub. Cider Spring was a fruit cider, not my bag but another tick. Mcdonald's filled me up but it was a lazy choice and typical of me on a weekend away. I endeavoured to do better for the rest of the trip. I was back at my room just after midnight and didn't take long to sleep.

 

THE GROUND

VALBY STADIUM is an excellent venue. The main area is a large covered stand holding around 5000 and this offers a good view. Behind each goal are wooden terraces whilst on the far side there are concrete steps. This side has quite a gap between the rail and the pitch owing to an area dedicated to small-sided pitches. A nice-looking barbecue was in operation for my visit but drink was restricted to Carlsberg and soft drinks. The transport links are OK, either various buses or Copenhagen South station is 15 minutes walk away.

Hilltop - The Ark Academy

Hilltop FC

The Ark Academy

Bridge Road

Wembley

Brent

London 

HA9 9JP

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1312
Wednesday 22nd May 2024

Hilltop 2nds 1-3 Stonewall
Middlesex County Premier

HILLTOP FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 2005 as a club for the Somali community based in London. The club was named after a road in Stonebridge called Hilltop Avenue, where most of the players lived at the time when the club was formed. In 2007, Hilltop joined Division Three of the Middlesex County League and gained promotion to the second division at the first attempt after a 5th paced finish. Then, after two seasons of mid-table finishes in Division Two, the club left the league, returning in 2014. They picked up where they left off but after finishing bottom, they were relegated back to Division 3 in 2016. A change of management followed and Hilltop finished as runners-up behind Harrow Bhoys in 2017 to win promotion back at the first attempt. This was the start of a successful period for the club as they were Division 2 champions in 2018 and Division 1 West Champions in 2019. Their performance over the two pandemic-hit seasons were good enough for them to be admitted to the Combined Counties League for the 21/22 season. It was a memorable first season in the CCL Division 1. They finished as runners-up to London Lions and then beat Eversley & California in the playoff semi finals. Although they lost to Wallingford & Crowmarsh in the playoff final, certain events meant that they gained promotion anyway. They've spent two seasons in the CCL Premier North, finishing in the bottom half but safely staying up.

Two seasons have been played in the FA Cup but they both ended in defeat. An excellent FA Vase run was enjoyed this season. Hilltop beat Brook House, Knaphill, Amersham Town, Hamble Club & Erith Town. Due to weather-related issues, they had to play their 5th Round game against Romford at Cobham where they lost 3-1 to the eventual Vase winners. In 2019, they won the Middlesex County Junior Cup, defeating Western Athletic 6-1. As the first team has risen through the leagues, the wider club has developed too. In 2021, the club launched a reserve team that competed in the Middlesex County League Division 1, which they won last season to gain promotion to the Premier Division. There is also a women’s team that competes in the Greater London Women’s Football League, not to mention several youth teams. Hilltop draws many of its players from the Somali community in London, and from time to time enters Somali tournaments around the world, having done so in Canada and Somalia. The club also participates in the Somali British Champions League, of which they are the current holders. The team’s success in recent seasons, and its exciting brand of football, has not gone unnoticed. Hilltop manager Abdullah Mohammed was recently appointed as the assistant coach of the Somali national team, and forward Ali Mohamed received a call-up to the senior Somalia side for the first time in 2021 as well.

MY VISIT

This game was decided upon on Sunday after I originally dismissed it due to the 'late' 8 PM kickoff. However, with me being unavailable for my intended Friday visit to Stonewall, I opted to make the most of the dwindling list of options available to me. This would be an easy trip down the Metropolitan Line to a 3G cage near Wembley Stadium and it would also give me the chance to tick off the Wembley Wetherspoons. There was a backup at one point with Camden & Islington playing at Hackney Marshes but that was moved to a floodlit venue, in this case, the New River Stadium in North London. The only issue was the lack of communication on Twitter and the slapdash and sloppy administration of the Middlesex County League fixtures. I completely sympathise with the fact that the secretary is a volunteer. This is why I propose a Wiki-type situation where clubs have the opportunity to alter the fixture status and venues from their end. It is the same for Futbology who seem very reluctant to accept people on board to maintain an excellent app.

 It had rained during all of last night's game, it rained on the way home and it rained on my way to work. The weather's default position it seems after a few days of sun. I was pretty tired too in the morning, so I was glad that it was my short day. The afternoon brought good news as fellow hopper David confirmed the game was on tonight. At a level where communication is minimal due to it being all about the playing side, the groundhopping community is even better and more helpful than usual. I was also cheered up by the rain apparently easing near Wembley and me finally deciding on Wakering Sports for Saturday. They were one of the few clubs that were good at communicating on Twitter which was essential with call-offs quite common due to clubs not being able to raise a team. The Middlesex League was one of the worst for this with Slough Town JFC and Larkspur Rovers both forfeiting three games each along with Hilltop, PFC Victoria and Feltham one apiece. The weather was the chief cause for this with teams unable to make the rearranged midweek games. My planned game next Tuesday at Kodak had already been pulled but credit to Slough for giving a week's notice and they are also one of the most responsive Twitter accounts in the league.

I decided to stay at home a while longer with it being a late kickoff and put my journey back half an hour. I left home at 4.45 with yet more rain pouring. I listened to Radio 5 Live on the way where they were talking about the upcoming General Election. I was easily parked up near Amersham station just after 5 and didn't have long to wait for the Chiltern Line to Harrow. It was an exceptionally quick change and as a result, I was at Wembley Park well in advance. I'm not a huge fan of Wembley Stadium but have to admit it looked great all done up for Saturday's FA Cup Final. It was a 25-minute walk to Wetherspoons 331, JJ Moons in Wembley. It was a bit of a mixed bag. The draught was knackered but my sticky Korean fried chicken bowl and a bottle of Aspalls was great for just over a tenner. I did consider the Thistly Cross Whisky Cask but it was a bit strong with me driving later. Instead, I went for a Hooch which I used to drink regularly when I went up to the Orchard Nightclub in Holmer Green back in the late 90s. Spoons were doing a roaring trade for a Wednesday night but there were some great deals to be had. It was half an hour walk to the Ark Academy where the game was. A bewildering amount of fences confused things but I found a way in eventually. One of the club people mistook me for the referee which was amusing. I was in a decent mood and I met Spud and saw that Hertfordshire Hopper was also in attendance.

Hilltop were 10th in the table and had played just 26 out of their 32 games. They'd not won in four games, their last clash a 3-2 defeat at Slough Town JFC on Saturday. This would be their last home game of the season, the 3G surface being a great help. Stonewall were in 7th, having played three games more. They'd lost their last three, having been thumped 9-0 at potential champions Pitshanger Dynamo on Saturday. The game kicked off late at 8.07, Hilltop in white and Stonewall in a nice pink, blue and white strip. The hosts dominated possession early on but didn't really threaten. Stonewall were awarded a stonewall penalty for handball on 19 minutes, it well struck into the bottom left to see them lead. On 37 minutes it was 2-0, a swift break and a low finish from a tight angle. Hilltop had an injury to one of their players and he had to be chairlifted off, hopefully he will be OK. The first half ended at 8.53 with half time taking exactly ten minutes. On 50 minutes, it was 3-0 to Stonewall, the left winger got to the byline, crossed in for the striker to tap in at the back post. There was a bit of Hilltop pressure and they pulled one back with a scrappy goal on 86 minutes. The keeper could only palm the shot, creating a goal-mouth scramble and somehow the ball found its way into the net. A tetchy game was not helped by a fussy referee and it ended in a bit of a scuffle. By that time though, I and other hoppers were heading back towards the station having left as soon as the whistle went.

THE GROUND 

THE ARK ACADEMY is a venue with an interesting backdrop of Wembley Stadium and other striking buildings. Other than that, the cage has no viewing area but if you are lucky you can stand pitch side. Parking is available although Wembley Park station is a short walk away. There are tons of places to eat and drink though Wembley centre is a half-hour walk away.