Shirehampton - Penpole Lane

Shirehampton FC

Penpole Lane

Shirehampton

Bristol

BS11 0EA

Western League Page

Twitter

Ground Number: 1398

Tuesday 11th March 2025

Shirehampton 0-1 Bitton

Western D1 

SHIREHAMPTON FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1952 as Kingsweston Star, changing its name to Penpole United shortly after and then again to Shirehampton Sports in 1954. They adopted their current moniker, dropping the 'Sports' suffix in the early 1970s. They started out in the Church Of England League before progressing to the Bristol & District League. In 1978, the club stepped up to the Somerset County League Division 1. In 1987 a 4th place finish was good enough for Shirehampton to be promoted to the Premier Division but they'd only stay for a single season. Four seasons were spent in Division 1 before a 3rd place finish in 1992 was good enough for a more sustained spell in the Premier Division.

Shirehampton were Somerset County League champions in 1999 and runners-up behind Shepton Mallet the following year. However, they were unable to move up to the Western League due to ground grading. In 2002, the club was relegated to Division 1, returning to the Premier Division as champions in 2006. Another runners-up spot behind Bridgwater Town reserves came in 2009 before league titles in 2011 and 2015. A third runners-up spot behind Watchet Town came in 2017. In 2020, Shirehamton were transferred to the Gloucestershire County League. In 2022 they finished as runners-up Wick. This time, they secured a groundshare at Bristol Manor Farm and were able to take promotion to the Western League. In their debut season, they finished 6th and reached the playoffs, beating Wells City in the semi-finals but losing to Oldland Abbotonians in the final. They moved back to their ground this season and remain in the Western D1.

Shirehampton have played two FA Vase campaigns but lost on penalties at the first hurdle to Wantage Town & Hengrove Athletic respectively. Local cup wins include the Somerset County League Cup in 2009 and 2018. Shirehampton is a district of Bristol in England, near Avonmouth, at the northwestern edge of the city. It originated as a separate village, retains a High Street with a parish church and shops, and is still thought of as a village by many of its 6,867 inhabitants. In the 1960s and 1970s a Dalek sat outside the Haven Master's building on the banks of the river Avon, just across from the Lamplighters public house. The Dalek used to face up river, so that boats coming from Bristol Docks to the Severn and Bristol Channel (not to mention the Pill Ferry) would have to pass under its manipulator arm. The Dalek was used to raise funds during at least one Shirehampton Carnival in (probably) the very late 1960s. For 6d, children could sit inside it on the plain wooden slat and twiddle the manipulator arm for a few minutes apiece.

MY VISIT

This Tuesday was decided on Saturday whilst I was in Vienna. Chances to go somewhere in midweek were slim but on this Tuesday, there were two options. Shirehampton was where I had planned to visit on 11th February, though it was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. The other option was Wincanton Town although I decided to go for the former as I'd already started the blog for that one. I'd have Colin with me again after a weekend free of him which would help out with costs. I checked the weather this time and it appeared dry although someone had forgotten to tell the temperature that we are in spring now.  Thankfully, it didn't appear to be match-affecting.

Monday morning saw me depart Budapest, waking before my alarm after a decent night's sleep. I had time to shower, get my things together, and type my blog up. I left at 7.20, walking to the metro station. It was a simple trip to Deac Ferenc Ter where I got a very busy airport express bus. Security was speedy but passport control was slow. I had a great tomato and mozzarella ciabatta in between. We take off about 20 minutes late but the flight drags. Back in Stansted, I arrive to a gloomy sky. Passport control is pretty quick and I grab an excellent bag of Black Truffle crisps as part of my meal deal from WH Smith. I'm back at Liverpool Street by 1.35 and head towards home on the Metropolitan Line. There is no sign of any Amersham train so I hop on the one towards Uxbridge, intending to change at Harrow On The Hill. I later learned services to Amersham had been disrupted due to cows on the track and I suddenly got a yearning for steak and chips. I was glad to return home just before 4 so I could catch up.

It was the standard day off for me with my body clock still not adjusted from early starts for work. I walked to Wycombe and back, getting some pulled pork for lunch amongst other things. I did some more work on my blogs for my upcoming Scottish trip before leaving at 4. I waited for ages at my local bus stop for Colin's bus but eventually, we were on our way at 4.25. It was slow getting on the M4 but OK from then on. We had to navigate Bristol's tricky roads with roads shooting off everywhere. It was easier said than done to navigate with Colin's verbal diarrhoea constantly flowing. We stopped at ASDA for petrol and a meal deal, though sadly no new local ciders to take home. From there, it was 15 minutes to the ground with me parking outside and paying £6 to get in. It was a compact and quirky ground, despite the predictable pre-fab metal stand. The 7.30 kick-off meant we had limited time to relax before the game started. It would be my first new tick on a Tuesday since Cambridge City on 3rd December. We spent the game chatting to a fellow hopper who was also at the game.

 

Shirehampton were in 9th and had won four of their last five, beating Sturminster Newton United 3-2 on Saturday. Bitton were in 4th place and unbeaten in four games. In their last game, they won 1-0 at Cheddar. It was an end-to-end game. Bitton were given a golden opportunity to score when they awarded a penalty for a foul. Nathan Hall stepped up and converted on 20 minutes. It was pretty much Bitton on top from there and they were good value for their halftime lead. It was a pretty poor game from there on with very little in the way of goalmouth action in the second half. But it was ticked off in good company but not one I'd come back to.

 

THE GROUND 

PENPOLE LANE is a smart but basic ground which is enhanced by the two tree line ends. The far side is the cricket pitch and is out of bounds to fans. The near side has two small stands, one seated, and one standing, holding around 50 each. The car park, clubhouse and all other facilities are located around 50 meters down the road with a residential house in between. 

Budapest Honved - Bozsik Arena

Budapest Honved FC

Bozsik Arena

Budapest

Prince

Puskás Ferenc u. 1-3

1194 Hungary

Official Website

Facebook

Ground Number: 1397

Sunday 9th March 2025
Kispest Honved 3-2 Soroksar SC
Nezmeti Bajnoksag II

BUDAPEST HONVED FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1909 and represents the Kispest area of Hungary's capital city. The word Honved means 'homeland defence'. Their original name was Kispest AC until they changed to Kispest FC before becoming Budapest Honved in 1946. From 1991 until 2003, they were known as Kispest Honved before reverting to the name that they have held for most of their history. The team enjoyed a golden age during the 1950s when it was renamed Budapesti Honvéd SE and became the Hungarian Army team. The club's top players from this era, Ferenc Puskás, Sándor Kocsis, József Bozsik, Zoltán Czibor, and Gyula Grosics helped the club win the Hungarian League four times during the 1950s and also formed the nucleus of the legendary Hungary national team popularly known as the Mighty Magyars. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the club enjoyed another successful period, winning a further eight Hungarian League titles. They also won league and cup doubles in 1985 and 1989. A brief period of severe decline came in 2003 as the club suffered a rare relegation from the Hungarian top flight, bouncing back after a single season. A more serious battle came shortly after following a dispute with the Hungarian tax authorities due to them treating their players as self employed and thus drastically reducing their tax burden but eventually a compromise was reached following the intervention of the Hungarian Football League. Another relegation followed in 2023 and this time the recovery looks set to take longer with a modest 9th-place finish last season and this season spent in a similarly disappointing position.

They will be most well known to the wider world over their exploits in European Football. On 13 December 1954 they played Wolverhampton Wanderers, the reigning English League champions, in a prestige friendly. Honvéd were leading 2–0 at half-time but eventually lost 3–2. It was one fo the first-ever games played under floodlights. It was games like this that led to the establishment of the European Cup in 1955. The team contained many of the 'Magnificent Magyars' that had given England a rude awakening when they thumped England at Wembley, a couple of years prior for the Three Lions first loss at the national stadium. Given their level of success, it is somewhat surprising that their furthest progress in European Competition was the UEFA Cup Quarter Final of 1979. Adanaspor, Politehnica Timișoara and Ajax were beaten over two legs before they lost out to MSV Duisburg on the away goal rule.

MY VISIT

Back when I decided to go to Budapest for a football game, I was always going to favour games with unusual kickoff times. Sadly I could only manage two games but there was just one 5PM game. Happily, it was a famous old name in Budapest Honved or as I'd known them, Kipest Honved. I remembered the name from 1990s Amiga games such as Manchester United in Europe, Premier Manager and Sensible Soccer which I played a hell of a lot back in the day due to lack of work and other important commitments as well as my opinion that it's the best gaming platform ever. They had suffered a fall from grace in recent times but that did mean that I was able to secure a good seat in the second-highest price bracket for just £6.75. The process was both easy and great value compared to back home and most other European cities. 

From my game at Elore, it was a quick dash across the road to the tram stop with me getting on the first one I saw. Contrary to my fears, it was indeed going the right way, though I'd have been snookered before Google Maps. It was a 20-minute wait for the S21 to Kipest with the information not exactly breeding confidence that I'd be getting where I wanted. Happily, I was on course although once I'd handed over my ticket for scanning, I realised I'd given my Vienna pass rather than my Budapest one. Strangely, it was accepted. I got to Kipest as scheduled and walked to the ground. After getting some pictures of the outside, I went to the shop. My first and only bit of merch this weekend cost me £11.68 in the form of an Honved scarf. I joined the huge queues to get in although they did move at a reasonable pace.

Honved had gone to the bottom of the table prior to kickoff, this due to Tatabanya winning and leapfrogging them in an earlier game. They'd won three and lost two of their last five, most recently losing 2-0 at Ajka. Soroksar had less than 20 minutes drive to the game, yet they'd only brought a handful of fans. They were 13th but hadn't win in four since returning from the winter break. Last time out, they'd drawn 1-1 with Szeged The hosts went 1-0 up just as I got through the turnstile. It was a bit chaotic with everyone sitting where they fancied. Not that I minded standing at the back. The hosts were well on top, forcing a couple of good saves in succession from the Soroksar keeper around 26 minutes. Honved dominated but they had a scare when Soroksar thumped the bar from 25 yards on 40 minutes. Just after that, a shot was cleared off the line down the other end and this game was a real antidote to the snoozefest I saw earlier. On the halftime whistle, there was a scrap in what had been a feisty game. It inspired Soroksar to start well, a looping cross from the left gave Lovrencsics the chance to head home at the back post on 50 minutes. They seized the initiative and Honved were made to pay for their earlier profligacy. Szabo charged down the right on 63 minutes and finished from a tight angle. The real star though was their 23 Martin Kroner who had made a great saving tackle when a Honved man was away and in the clear just before half-time. Honved equalised on 75 minutes, a low cross from the right was poked home by Kantor. A ball into the box and an excellent overhead kick by Kevin Kantor on 84 minutes restored Honved's lead in what was a cracking game.

It had been a superb experience and the ground looked just as good in the dark as it did in the light. I hopped on a tram from near the ground to Hatar Ut Metro station. The connections were superb as I hopped straight on the U3 towards Budapest. I'd had a great day but had a couple of pubs to visit. First up, The Beer People where I had a big bottle of Budapres Nat cider for just over a tenner. It was excellent but the pub was very quiet. The next one, Parabolic Lazarus Brewpub was even quieter. I had a large cider, very good value at just over £4 but not as nice as the previous ones. I did consider calling it a night then, but it wouldn't be right to go without having a small cherry beer. A sensible drinking night by my standards, but I think that's the way to go now. I got the metro back to my room, getting in just after 9.30. My first blog of the day was published before bed with me prioritising sleep over getting this one done.

THE GROUND

THE BOZSIK ARÉNA is an excellent new build that looks great day or night. The capacity looks bigger than the 8,200 it holds over four stands but the corners are closed in. I didn't get the chance to see the food or drink but the club shop was decent and reasonably priced. The ground is located 10 minutes walk from Kispest train station and the bus and tram links make it easy to get back into central Budapest. 

BKV Elore - Sport Utcai Stadion

BKV Elore

Sport Utcai Stadion

Sport u. 2

Budapest

1087 Hungary

Official Website

Facebook

Ground Number: 1396

Sunday 9th March 2025

BKV Elore 0-0 Monor SE

Nemzeti Bajnoksag III Delkeleti

BKV ELORE - A BRIEF HISTORY

BKV Előre Labdarúgás was established in the summer of 1912, at the initiative of some enthusiastic sports-loving officials of the then BKVT (Budapest Public Railway Company). After playing friendlies for the first few years, they joined the MLSZ (Hungarian Football Federation) just as war broke out. Football activity was severely restricted but BKV Elore managed to reach the second level of the wartime competition. From 1926, they changed to blue and yellow kits instead of burgundy and white. In 1928, they won the championship and were now in the highest division of the amateur championship. Several titles were won in the next few years. The team of the 1930s is considered one of the best in the club's history. In 1931, they beat the Hungarian national team 4-1 in a training match, They also knocked out Hungarian giants Újpest from the Hungarian Cup. In 1934, they reached the final of the competition but lost to Soroksar. It took two replays and one of the games attracted a crowd of 15,000. At the time, this was a record crowd for a final in the 16th season of the competition.  They also won the “Champion of Champions” tournament, played in Geneva, Switzerland.

In 1940, they reached the top tier NBI but would only last for a single season, narrowly going down as the best of the four relegated teams. They also had a near miss the following season, getting into the promotion places but missing out in the playoffs. The mid-40s saw success in wartime competitions and two third-place finishes in the NBI but they were demoted due to off-field matters. The second tier NBII Eastern was won in 1949 but the club would only last in the top tier for a few seasons. Reorganisations and mergers meant a turbulent time for the club and they would not grace the top tier for a long time, alternating between the second and third tiers. A high point was winning the NBII in 2001 but they were not allowed to take their place in the top tier. They also reached a couple of Hungarian Cup semi-finals during this time. However, fortunes declined and they were relegated from the NBII West group in 2014 and the club continues to play in the third-tier NBIII in various regional groups.

MY VISIT

Back when I first decided to go to Budapest, it was the ground of BKV Elore that I really fell in love with. The stand looked amazing but I was unsure what time the kickoff would be. It would eventually be confirmed as 14:00 with Honved standing out on their own at 17:00. There was some competition though. ESMTK had come recommended first of all and that was the easiest in terms of getting to Honved. But then Csepel was recommended and although a fine-looking stadium, it did have an athletics track. It was also the most geographically awkward of the three, though I had no issue using an Uber. Basically, my plan was to get into Budapest around 10:30, dump my bag at the hotel and then go for an early lunch and a couple of drinks in Budapest's city centre before the first game. With Elore being that tad closer to the city centre, the decision was made on Thursday that I'd be going there. The free entry was a bonus, more so to save me pissing about getting cash out than the tiny amount saved. I was hoping to get some merch at both of my games, so reached out to the club's Facebook page to enquire.

There was no reply by Sunday morning. I'd had a good time in Vienna, despite a few hiccups. It was also a great value-for-money city. All in, once I'd paid for travel to the airport, flight, Vienna travel and two nights hotel, it worked out at £140 or £35 a game. Cheaper than many of my domestic trips. My alarm went at 5.50 with the backup a few minutes later. I was up, packed, showered and out by 6.35. It was an easy trip on the Metro to the main station with me there 40 minutes ahead of departure time. My train to Budapest was going to be delayed, but the time kept changing. I got a lovely cheese pretzel from a place called Anker along with a drink. The delay turned out to be less than 15 minutes in the end. The fare was around £14 from what I recall and it included a free drink as well as charging and WiFi. The trip was used to get future plans in place, namely Tuesday at Shirehampton and the first half of Scotland next weekend. The train journey was very pleasasnt with me getting to Budapest at 10:30. It was a few minutes walk to my room and I was glad to be able to check in early, dump my bag and kill time until it was time to leave at 11.35.

The Hungarian ticket machines and signage are not as user-friendly as the ones in Vienna but Google Translate gets me through. The Metro is the simplest method and I'm also able to buy my ticket for the next 24 hours for £5.30. Like most metro systems aside from London, I'm able to use my phone whilst underground and it's baffling how a developed country does still not have a data connection on the Underground. It was only a few minutes walk to the excellent Madhouse craft beer bar where the Hungarian cider from Budapres was great. A second different cider followed along with some chicken wings as I was now peckish. I declined to draw some cash out. Most of the machines looked scammy rather than proper banks. With no entry fee at Elore and a ticket secured at Honved, there was no need. The chicken wings were great and well-presented. All in all, £22.58 for the lot, not bad at all. It was then a metro ride via Lidl where I got a soft drink and snacks before getting to the ground at 1.35.

BKV Elore were down in 12th and were in mixed form. Their last game had been a 1-0 loss at Tiszafoldvar. Monori were 5th, and they beat Szegedi 3-2 in their last game. Monor were the side producing all the chances, coming close on a number of occasions. Elore started to get back into it but never really tested the keeper. Overall, it grew into a tedious game though, with no real efforts on goal. It was the visitors that came close again late on, but their finishing was wayward. It was inevitable that my first game in Hungary would be a dull 0-0 but it had been a good place to visit all the same.

THE GROUND

SPORT UTCAI STADION (Sport Street Stadium in English) is a classic ground which has seen better days. That's what gives it it's charm though. Spectator accommodation is restricted to one side. The huge stand could hold about 3,000 and is comprised of mainly bench seating. There is a bar underneath but no merchandise. The stadium is a bit fiddly to get to on public transport with changes required, the nearest Metro stop, Ferenc Puskas Stadion is around 15 minutes walk away. You pass various places including a Lidl on the way and trams stop just across the road.