OIR - Enfield College 3G

OIR FC

Capital City College Sports Centre

Enfield College 3G

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Enfield 

London

EN3 7GB

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Ground Number: 1507
Saturday 13th December 2025

OIR 0-1 Owens

Herts Senior County Premier

OIR FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

OIR are a recent addition to the football scene, having been formed as recently as 2020. They have also been known as Oasis Rovers. The club's roots lie in the Somalian community of North London and beyond - they were crowned Somalian British Champions League Champions in 2024 when they beat Wembley Rangers at Haringey Borough in the final.  Still, they started out in the Middlesex County Division 1 Central & East, where they finished mid-table in a season that only lasted a few games due to the pandemic. Their first full season saw them win the D1C&E title, gaining promotion to the Premier Division. It was a short-lived stay as they finished bottom of the Premier Division in 2023. A 5th place finish in D1C&E in 2024 saw them join the Herts Senior County Premier last season, where they finished in the lower reaches of mid-table.

They are based in the town of Enfield, which has a population of just under 15,000, although the Royal Borough has a reach of around 330.000. Enfield was the location for the UK's first ever cash machine and was opened by Enfield resident and 'On The Buses' actor Reg Varney, back on 27th June 1967. Other famous events in the town include the Enfield poltergeist, although this actually occurred in nearby Brimsdown and was never actually proved to be paranormal activity, despite several books being written and films being made on the subject. In 1992, the BBC aired a controversial mockumentary titled Ghostwatch, written by Stephen Volk and based on the Enfield poltergeist. The town was also a victim of the 2011 London riots, with several businesses and shops looted and vehicles damaged. Famous people with links to Enfield include the singer Adele, musicians Chas & Dave, Gibraltar international footballer Roy Chipolina, TV host Bruce Forsyth, cricketer Mike Gatting, actor David Jason and hypnotist Paul McKenna.

MY VISIT

Completing the Herts Senior County League had been a long-term aim of mine, as it was a great league and one of the step 7 leagues that I was close to completing. Originally, it was just Owens as OIR played at Hoddesdon Town, but now that they had moved to the 3G at Enfield College, it gave me a chance to see a new ground and explore their history. Funnily enough, it was Owens who would be providing the opposition on this occasion. They had been quite evasive in my attempts to visit them. Their early-season games were always moved due to cricket, and they never seemed to come up in the silly season. It seemed as if I might have to give up a Saturday for it, probably by car, as it was fiddly by public transport. For now, though, OIR was fairly easy and cheap and had been planned about six weeks in advance. Originally, I had planned to visit Borough Market and some Christmas sights, but I had done the former a couple of weeks ago. Instead, up to four new Wetherspoons were in the offing as I looked to clean up all the remaining ones that I had to visit on the TFL network.

From Didcot's game at Brixham, we left at 6.10 with the players in a jubilant mood following their win. It was a slower-than-expected journey home, with a closure on the M5, followed by a 15-minute stop at Ilminster, which turned into a 35-minute one. Burger King was selling overpriced swill, but the Shell Garage meal deal of a Pigs Under Blankets sandwich, an energy drink and a brownie for £6 was more reasonable and filled a need.  We were back at Didcot Town FC by 22:40, and I drove home. The journey was better than I expected, and I dropped Colin off an hour later. He had the luxury of two days off after, but as I got in near midnight, the 3.50 alarm was all I had to look forward to. I had considered a nightcap to help me relax, but decided against it. Upon reflection, it would have been a good idea. That was the worst thing about the day: being stone-cold sober at 8 PM, something that I might not have to endure if Colin were able to do his fair share of the driving. Maybe it was the energy drink I had a few hours earlier, but I couldn't fall asleep. I must have got a couple of hours in the end, as I didn't feel too bad when the alarm woke me up. It was the usual Sunday of two halves - fine for the first half when the store was empty, but hell when the public rolled in in their thousands with their noisy kids. I was glad when I could go home at 1 and have a nap. As well as sleeping for a few hours in the afternoon, I was in bed by 8 PM and felt much better on Monday as a result. 

The extended cut, good video @divdogz04 pic.twitter.com/m3v8gbmKF0

— ⚽Russell Cox💙 (@RussWWFC) December 12, 2025

I still had a big sleep on Monday night and was late for my usual walk into town on Tuesday. I got a big chunk of my Christmas shopping done. Personally, I think it's a waste of time buying stuff that people don't really want, and I struggle to think of things I want. But it has to be done. I had a couple of hours at home before I was off out walking again, this time to Wycombe Wanderers v Plymouth Argyle via town for a couple of pints and food. I love my local, the Rose and Crown. But a pint of Old Rosie has risen from £2.70 to £5.50 in the six years I've made it my local. So while I will still support it, I needed food and so headed to Wetherspoons. A burger meal and two drinks were better value there, and I made my way to the ground just in time for kickoff. 18 miles walked in all, but it was a turgid first half between two poor teams. The second half saw Plymouth inevitably score, and they then defended well to see the game out. It was demoralising dross between two dreadful teams and a real hark back to the Mike Dodds era for Wycombe. The good thing was seeing Sean again, who was down for the game. It was also funny to hear Colin in full voice, ranting at the performance. When fellow fans complained about the noise, he told them to fuck off!

The rest of the week was not too bad at work, though it was a bit of a slog to get through to Friday. It would be a sober Friday night, too, much to my chagrin, due to my drinking on Tuesday. I was mulling over a new small laptop from CEX to replace my Chromebook for travelling. However, with the decision described as poor, I opted to hold off. As luck would have it, it was at the branch in Elephant and Castle, meaning I could potentially call in on my way back tomorrow. I was asleep by 9.30 and up at 5.30. After watching TV and having breakfast, I left at 7.25. The temperature had dropped, and everywhere was frozen after a mild fortnight. I was at the bus stop three minutes before the 7.41 bus, but there was no sign of it, with it still in Wycombe. The Carousel bus app was good though and I was able to track it, although it would be nice to have the info linked up to Google Maps. As a result, the bus was busier than usual, but I was still on schedule, just about, to catch my required train. That we did, after picking up Colin near his. He was a mixture of extremely irritating and sleepy, with the latter far preferable. It was a change at King's Cross onto the Victoria Line and then a bus from Finsbury Park to Muswell Hill. 

The location of the first ever Wetherspoons and also Norman Stanley Fletcher from the brilliant sitcom Porridge. The Mossy Well was also excellent and I had a pint of Black Dragon, a breakfast muffin and a takeaway energy drink for £6.23. Muswell Hill takes its name from a medieval holy well and its hill-top location. The ‘mossy well’ became a place of pilgrimage after a Scottish king was said to have been cured here by drinking the water. By the early 1800s, Belle Vue Lodge stood on the site of these premises. In 1900, it was replaced by the Express Dairy tea room, with a milk depot at the rear. In the early 1980s, the property was converted into licensed premises. According to Google, this Spoons opened in 2015. The bus to our next Spoons was early, so we had an extended wait for a scheduled one, having just missed it. It was a slow and frustrating trip, too, through heavy traffic.

 

It was then a 15-minute walk to the Railway Bell in Barnet. I needed the toilet so Colin sourced a table whilst I went. It was a rather disappointing Spoons, limited choice and they'd sold out of the Iron Brew Beer, so I had to make do with Aspalls. Even so, with a sticky Korean chicken bowl, breakfast muffin, and energy drink came in at £12.40. I was full after that, and as a result of losing a pre-match pub, we had time to kill. A second pint of Stowford Press was had for the wallet-friendly price of £1.99, but overall, it was a poor Spoons with slow service. From there, we got the bus to the game, a big 40-minute trip. At the other end, it was a ten-minute walk to the ground, the home side all present and correct, but no away side or officials. The hosts and officials turned up, with rumours of a 2.30 kickoff. OIR then disappeared inside with the pitch half prepared. Finally, they emerged and put the corner flags in. Finally, we were underway at 14:38, although the kickoff had been changed to 14:30 on the FA site.

OIR were rock bottom of the table with three points. Half of the points they had gained had been wiped out by a deduction for ground compliance issues. They had two wins and fourteen defeats from their sixteen games so far. They were on a run of nine losses in a row, having gained their only victories in August - 6-2 against Allenburys Sports and 4-1 against Cuffley Seniors. Their last defeat saw Cuffley Seniors beat them 7-0 to gain revenge, as had Allenburys Sports with their 4-0 win before that. Owens sat in 6th place, having won nine, drawn four and lost five. They were on reasonably decent form, having beaten Harefield United Reserves 6-1 in the Norman Appleby Trophy last time out. When the two sides met in August, Owens won 5-2. The first half was quite scrappy, OIR making the most attacks but Owens were fairly resolute. Both sides suffered from a lack of cutting-edge up front. The second half continued in the same vein with OIR attacking but lacking quality in the final third. Owens were very defensive, but were awarded a penalty with time running out. They dispatched this to lead 1-0. OIR still had time to force a reasonable save out of the visiting keeper. The score, however, remained 1-0 in favour of Owens.

THE GROUND

ENFIELD COLLEGE 3G is a functional cage setup with no stands or dugouts. It does have a decent-sized viewing area, though. There weren't many facilities, as it was primarily a place for participants. It is fairly well located, with buses five minutes away and trains a fifteen-minute walk. There is also a decent amount of parking.