Wakering Sports - Cupids Country Club

Wakering Sports FC

Cupids Country Club

Cupids Chase

Great Wakering

Southend-on-Sea

Essex

SS3 0AX

Official Website

EOFL Page

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Ground Number: 1322

Saturday 13th July 2024

Wakering Sports 4-2 Earls Colne

Friendly

WAKERING SPORTS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 2014 due to a merger between two Southend Borough Combination clubs. Thorpe Athletic was the most successful of the two clubs. Their honours included five Premier Division titles, including four between 1958 and 1961, two Division 1 titles, seven league cups and the Pete Simmonds Charity Cup in 1987. However, Cupids Country Club had superior facilities, using the ground they still play at today. They were known as Southend Sports initially before switching to the more geographically accurate Wakering Sports in 2018. Having been in the Essex Olympian Division 3 for a couple of seasons, they were relegated to Division 4 in 2016. Following two 3rd place finishes, they were promoted back in 2018. Their results over the two pandemic seasons saw them promoted to Division 1 in 2021. They are on course for the Premier Division with it being a close title race with ACD United, the two teams tied on goal difference with a couple of games to go.

The club is based in Great Wakering, home of Essex Senior League side Great Wakering Rovers. The village has a population of 5,500 and is located four miles from Southend. Great Wakering is a village steeped in history. It has many community links to the Ministry of Defence-governed Foulness Island. The village was badly hit during the 1953 floods and locals fear a re-occurrence of the devastation now that tidal levels are rising and flood defences are eroding. Of architectural interest is an old brickworks site (now partly demolished) at Star Lane, which was once served by an industrial narrow-gauge railway, the remains of which can still be seen in the bushes if you look carefully. Brick-making was once the main industry in Wakering. The factory finally closed in 1991, but the four towers remained a focal point on the horizon until September 2007, when the towers were finally demolished. In 2016, planning permission was granted to build new housing on the site.

MY VISIT

Wakering Sports looked like an excellent venue for the level with a small stand and clubhouse. Therefore, it was a must-visit, especially as I could combine it with a nice day out in Southend and a couple of Wetherspoons. I did all of my research last May and found that the best way to do it was to get the train to Southend and make use of the excellent value Plusbus ticket which would suit all of my needs for whilst I was in the area. I had originally planned it back on May 25th, FA Cup Final day. However, opponent Harold Hill pulled out on the morning of the game, saying they couldn't raise a team. I turned up seeing no live football that day which was very frustrating as several teams decided that they couldn't be bothered, Another opportunity came last week and it was an unusual 3 PM kickoff given that the England v Switzerland game kicked off at 5. I decided not to risk it and instead stayed in London with more backups. In any case, I already had this week's game against Earls Colne planned in any case. I was hoping that the weather would be OK for a decent day out although that was most certainly a long shot.

Since my last blog, I returned home following my game at Dagenham. I had a pint at the Harp in Covent Garden before walking back to a Wetherspoons near Farringdon for most of the England game. This turned out to be a great place to watch the game and once again England squeezed through on penalties. It was a bit better than previous games and I was glad to have something to look forward to on Wednesday. The train went back directly to Amersham. The only problem was that it was not timed well and I ended up waiting 45 minutes for my bus home as it was only an hourly service. The blessing in disguise was I had a rare late start at work although Sunday and Monday were real gruellers. I was glad of a day off on Tuesday but I kept it local with Amersham Town v Slough Town. Cash only as the Slough Town chairman drove over Amersham's card machine. I guess there's a first time for everything in non-league. On the pitch, Amersham didn't get much better as a strong Slough team triumphed 5-1. Goals from Abisogun, Ufuah, Spasov with a brace and a trialist with the last.

Wednesday saw the England game with a few drinks, though nothing daft as I was up at 4 am. England produced their best display of the tournament so far in beating the Netherlands 2-1. Even so, it took an extremely poor refereeing performance to help them on their way, making up for all the hard luck we've had over the years. The rest of the week was a quiet one, easier at work and a sober football-free Friday evening. I was frustrated in my efforts to book a weekend away in September due to kickoff times being undecided. I'd narrowed it down to a couple of plans - Switzerland and Liechtenstein or Poland and Czech Republic.

The day of the game came and I awoke ahead of schedule. After breakfast and a rest, I left home at 8.10. My 8.27 bus was 15 minutes late, but I'd allowed plenty of time for delays on this leg of the journey. I got the Chiltern Line to Harrow expecting to have an easy change to the Metropolitan Line to Liverpool Street. However, they were messing around with the platforms at Harrow and instead I had a frustrating and wasted half hour wait on a platform. It pays to check these things, of course Chiltern Railways had the usual pre recorded message and no warning of disruption. I was back on the next train with no real damage done. I was however looking forward to my first drink of the day. I had time to kill at Liverpool Street with a half hourly service and this gave me a chance to alter my plans for later in the absence of the Metropolitan Line. The 11.14 c2c service was a basic train, no USB or tables but I had my power bank. It was however efficient and good value (£13.30 return from London) and I was in Southend at 12.11.

It was just over a five-minute walk to Wetherspoons 342, The Last Post in Southend on Sea. It was in the building that had been the town's main Post Office up until 1993, initially, I thought it was something to do with Remembrance Day. It was busy and noisy but I treated myself to fish, chips and beans with a pint of Black Dragon for £11.61. The fish especially was very nice, but it was time for something better. It was a few minutes walk to the travel centre which was really just a series of bus stops. There were plenty of connections but the 2 took its time on a busy route. Mawson's Micropub was my destination, a decent place. A pint of Rocquette cider from the Channel Islands, more specifically Guernsey, was first up and this was very nice. That was it as I'd tried all of the other ciders. I expected to get the bus to the ground but I caught it the wrong way and got off in a pleasant village. A three-mile walk ensued but I made kick-off comfortably. I met fellow hopper Dan at the game and it was a decent ground.

The game started with Wakering Sports well on top and they took the lead on 11 minutes, a goalkeeping error leading to the ball being palmed out to the path of a striker who finished from close range. It was 2-0 on 32 minutes, then 3-0 two minutes later, more suspect defending. The goalkeeper produced a good save but from the resulting corner it was 4-0, a header on 42 minutes. The second half was calmer, so much that the Wakering Sports keeper was able to feast on some chicken nuggets donated by a fan. Right near the end, Earls Colne pulled one back, a good finish from a decent ball over the top.

That was it in terms of goals. Dan, despite all the slagging off he gets from the idiots on Twitter helped me by giving me a lift to the Wetherspoons, the Parsons Barn, meaning I was there 40 minutes ahead of schedule. I generally find the public horrible people who attack decent people with their abhorrent bile and I'm always one to back my mates. I contemplated those thoughts with a pint of Strongbow for £2.39 before heading off to catch the bus. It was another confusing situation but I found the stop I needed and was well ahead of schedule. Maybe even another Spoons could be in the offing as long as I made the 19:57 at Marylebone back to Amersham. The bus back took me the route I'd been expecting on the way and I was glad things were going smoothly when I was pressed for time. It looked as if I'd get another Spoons near Fenchurch Street, the Liberty Bounds done and still make my train home easily.

THE GROUND

CUPIDS COUNTRY CLUB is a superb venue for the level. It is a complex of many pitches with a decent bar and burger van serving them all. There is a small seated stand, capacity around 50 and around the same amount of seats in the open. There's also a decent amount of hard standing and the ground is well worth a visit.