Haringey Borough FC - Coles Park

Haringey Borough FC

Coles Park Stadium

White Hart Lane

Tottenham

London

E17 9JP

01707 873187

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 287
Friday 16th August 2013
Enfield 1893 0-0 London Tigers
FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round




HARINGEY BOROUGH FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was formed in 1973 following a merger between Edmonton & Wood Green Town. They were initially known as 'Edmonton & Haringey', changing their name to their present one in 1976. Aside from the 1995/96 season when they were briefly known as 'Tuffnell Park', they've stuck with the name ever since. Starting out in the Athenian League, the highlight of their time here was a 5th place finish in 1979 although they generally struggled. In 1984, following the disbandment of the Athenian League, Haringey Borough joined the Isthmian League but despite finishing 4th in Division 2 North in 1987, they left the league the following year. A player exodus meant that they spent the 1988/89 season inactive, but they joined the Spartan (later to become Spartan South Midlands) League in 1989. They would remain here until 2013, the best finish coming in 1992 when they finished 3rd in the top tier. They spent all but one season in the Premier Division, the one exception being  2007/08 when they bounced back from relegation by finishing 2nd behind Kentish Town in Division 1. In 2013, the club was moved to the  Essex Senior League, which was a blessing in disguise. Haringey Borough were runners-up in their first season, just a point behind Great Wakering Rovers. 2014/15 saw them win the title and promotion to the. Isthmian League. A 15th place finish was a steady start before a 5th place finish in 2016/17. This was good enough for a playoff semi-final, but they lost a thrilling game 5-4 at Maldon & Tiptree. This season just gone saw a 4th place finish, but this time, their foray into the playoffs was successful. A 2-0 win over Heybridge Swifts in the semis was followed up with a 3-1 win over Canvey Island in the final to reach the heady heights of the Isthmian Premier for next season.



Haringey Borough enjoyed their best-ever FA Cup run this season. Bowers & Pitsea, Hitchin Town, Welling United and Bideford were beaten before a 4-2 defeat to Heybridge Swifts in the 4th Qualifying Round. To cap a brilliant season, they also had their best run in the FA Trophy, narrowly losing a 1st Round tie 2-1 against Leyton Orient in front of their record crowd of 1,133. You have to go back as far as the 1977/18 season for their best FA Vase run when they reached the Quarter Final before losing 2-1 at Bedfordshire outfit Barton Rovers. Local cup wins include the SSML Division 1 Cup in 2008 and the London Senior Cup in 1991. Though geographically in Tottenham, the club represents the Borough of Haringey which has a population of over 278,000, though most of the support is directed towards Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur. Famous people from Haringey include Jessie Wallace and comedian Mike Reid, both of whom appeared in the now rubbish TV soap Eastenders. 



VISIT 1: ENFIELD 0-0 LONDON TIGERS

After only visiting new grounds for friendlies this season, it was finally time to get a competitive game under my belt. I had been planning to go to Bury Town v Harrow Borough on Tuesday night, but with no one to go with me I didn't fancy the long journey (and resulting cost) on my own. So one of my top targets for a visit will have to wait. I had a look if there was anything closer, but everything was the other side of London, over 50 miles away and inevitably resulting in a traffic strewn journey. There were games that were closer on Wednesday, but I decided to save my money and stay in and watch England v Scotland instead. I had for a while considered going to this, the game had a special history. And seen as I probably keep a Scotsman in work with my consumption of large amounts of Irn Bru, I thought it was my duty. But £35 minimum for a friendly at a ground I had been to several times before didn't appeal to me, especially as I am making an attempt to stick to a budget this season. I know this is unlikely to happen as I can't resist going to random places. I spent £2268 on football last season, and with the additional cost of £250 for a season ticket that I got free for working last season, my budget of £1750 seems a trifle optimistic. As it was it was an excellent game, great atmosphere and the usual half-arsed England performance - the overrated Rooney especially flattering to deceive.



I left home at 6PM and made steady progress up until I hit Watford. I had to go through there to get from the M25 to M1 and it was very slow moving. But not as bad as when I got off the M1 and went near the likes of Muswell Hill, there I faced about 4 miles of traffic going at no more than 5MPH. At least I got there in the end, parking inside the actual ground so I could have watched the game from my car if I had wished, very tempting in the winter, but not on a warm summer night. I paid my entry and also got a programme. It was a very poor effort indeed, with photocopied pages full of adverts and league bulletins copied off of the internet. The one original piece that it did have was from the chairman and was littered with mistakes - including 'thanks to our old fiends from Harringey' At least I think that was a mistake, and that they are not sworn enemies.



Sadly the game was about as good as the programme, very dull indeed. London Tigers especially seemed keen to pack 7 men behind the ball which kept chances to a minimum. And those that were created were wasted. There were plenty of fierce tackles going in and this resulted in an Enfield man getting his marching orders for a second bookable offence. So, all in all, a very poor game, though not as bad as the Chesunt v Southend Manor game I saw in this competition a few years ago.



After the game, I had arranged to pick up a DAB Radio that I had bought off of Gumtree in nearby Walthamstow. It was a nightmare to get to, despite only being a few miles away. I had to go down Tottenham High Street, near where the London riots were. The solid traffic took about 20 minutes to do half a mile, not helped by selfish buses parked 2 deep and motorcyclists making death-defying moves by ducking in and out of oncoming traffic. One missed being clattered by a bus by a mere matter of inches. After that, I headed off home, right through London the way I'd come on the way. The local council's thirst for bleeding motorists dry with speed cameras every few hundred yards was annoying, but I got through without them managing to pick my pocket. I eventually got home at 11.30, hoping for a better game on Saturday, as Wycombe played Mansfield.



VISIT 2: CONIFA 9TH/10TH PLACE PLAYOFF

Initially, I'd wanted to save my revisit to Coles Park for an actual Haringey Borough match, being that I'd only been there before for a dull Enfield 1893 FA Cup match. But I was going to be in the area later on for the CONIFA World Football Cup Final, a competition that had really captured my imagination. So during the week, I decided to take the plunge and go, seeing as it was just a single bus ride between the two grounds. I'd had a few cans on Thursday night with the England game as they beat Costa Rica 2-0, so Friday the plan was to stay off the booze and hopefully get a good night's sleep. It didn’t really work out as well as I’d hoped, with me getting little over 7 hours and waking at 5 am. I couldn’t get back to sleep, so I watched a documentary about Scotland’s 1978 World Cup campaign on iPlayer as well as catching up on my YouTube subs.



I decided to leave a bit earlier than usual, around 8.40 and spend a little more time in London. I got a train just before 9.10 and decided to go and get some pictures of Westminster, seeing as it was nearby to my usual pit stop of Borough Market. After getting some nice pictures, I made the rest of my train journey to London Bridge and of course, the cider stall at Borough Market. I've been here so many times that I've practically had every cider they offer, so may seek alternative plans for the future. For today though, I had a retry of their dry house cider and got a bottle of Perry to take away for later.  I fancied getting something to eat and went to the Gourmet Goat stall. My Kid Goat Kofte wrap was decent, although the first one had a hair in it and I had to get a free replacement. From there, it was down to London Bridge underground station and after a change to the Picadilly Line at King's Cross, I got to Wood Green at 12.15. I made my way to the Wetherspoons, my 165th in the chain. The Spouters Corner was decent, well above average, especially with a £2.85 pint of Black Dragon on offer. I left just after 1, via McDonald's for lunch which although not the best, was quick, simple and cheap, I encountered two conflicts. A couple of grey haired people having a fierce argument about whether smoking was allowed in public and a peaceful drugs bust by the police, where a dealer handed over the wraps of whatever he was selling to the Police.



ABKHAZIA is a disputed state on the Eastern coast of the black sea. It's recognised as an independent state by Russia although Georgia also claims it to be part of their territory. It has a population of around 243,000. The football team are made up of players from the Abkhazian and Russian leagues with Nart Sukhum providing seven of the squad. This is Abkhazia's third CONIFA World Cup, making them ever-present. They were knocked out in the placement rounds to Occitania in the 2014 competition but came into this years competition as defending champions having beaten Panjab 6-5 on penalties in the 2016 final. This tournament has seen mixed form, starting off well enough with a 3-0 win over Tibet. However, a 2-0 defeat to Karpatalja and a 2-2 draw with Northern Cyprus meant that they finished 3rd and therefore play in the placement games. They beat whipping boys Tamil Eelam 6-0 on Tuesday in a game played at Aveley before defeating United Koreans of Japan 2-0 at Bromley on Thursday to reach today's placement match.



KABYLIA represent the Kabylie people who live in Northern Algeria. Part of the Tel Atlas mountain range and located on the edge of the Mediterranean sea, it has a population of some 7.5 million people, represented in 8 of Algeria's 48 provinces. Notable people to hail from the region include Zinedine Zidane, Karim Benzema and Samir Nazri. The Kabylian FA was formed last year and they played friendlies against local opponents, winning all 11 clashes. The team played their first competitive game at the end of May, losing 8-0 to Panjab in this years CONIFA World Football Cup in a game played at Slough Town. It's unsurprisingly their record defeat. Their squad is based mainly in France (11 players) and Algeria (7 players) but has some English based players via amateur team AC Finchley - striker Nefa Belmellat and midfielder Hocine Mohammedi. They finished bottom of Group D losing the aforementioned game to Panjab as well as a 4-0 defeat to Western Armenia. In between came a goalless draw against United Koreans in Japan. After this difficult start, it was another 0-0 draw on Tuesday at Enfield, this time against Matabeleland but they came through 4-3 on penalties. Finally, on Thursday, again at Enfield, they broke their scoring duck in some style, thrashing Tibet 8-1 despite being level at halftime.



I got to the ground at 2.10, having a Strongbow in the bar. That was ok before I went in the ground which was easier than it should have been, through an open gate.  The game was nothing special but Abkhazia roared on by their noisy support looked the better side Both teams looked pretty tired but Abkhazia took the lead around the half-hour mark with a close-range shot by Shabad Logua to lead at halftime. The second half saw them extend their lead on 56 minutes, 2-0 with a close-range header by Georgii Zhanaa. Kabylia staged a late rally, but it wasn't to be for them as Abkhazia won 9th place in the 2018 CONIFA World Football Cup.



THE GROUND

COLES PARK looks a pretty good place to watch football. There is a seated stand, holding 280. Though some of the seats have seen better days and are backless, it's still pretty good as it is elevated way above ground level. There is also covered standing holding around another 200 next to it. The rest of the ground is just open hard standing, though the car park runs around the pitch and is of a good for this level

I don't recall what was around the ground food or drink wise, but it is a 20-minute walk or a 5-minute bus ride from Wood Green tube station. Luckily, the facilities at the ground are decent, the tea bar offering a decent range of food which is well-priced. The bar is smart and modern, albeit with a fairly limited range. Though it is outside the ground, you can take your drink in with you. There was no club shop when I visited, though it may be different for a Haringey Borough home game.

GROUND PHOTOS



2018 PHOTOS

Tooting & Mitcham United - Imperial Fields

Tooting & Mitcham United FC

Imperial Fields

Bishopsford Road

Morden 

Surrey

SM4 6BF

020 86483238

Official Website

Unofficial Site

Twitter

Ground Number: 286
Friday 2nd August 2013
Tooting & Mitcham United 2-1 Crawley Town XI
Friendly





TEN FACTS ABOUT TOOTING & MITCHAM UNITED

1  The club was established in 1932 and was a result of the merger of two clubs - Tooting (founded 1887) and Mitcham Wanderers (founded 1912) 

2  After playing in the Athenian League from 1937 until 1956 (champions in 1955), they joined the Isthmian League and remain there to this day. They were Isthmian League Champions in 1960 whilst it was a single-tier league. Since the league expanded, their best finish has been 4th in the top tier in 1975, their worst 11th in the third tier (at the time step 4 of Non-League) in 1998.

3  My own team Wycombe Wanderers and Tooting were regular opponents back in the 1970s and 80's. The last competitive meeting was back in March 1987 where the two sides played out a drab 0-0 draw. The result was a good one for Tooting, who finished 19th against eventual champions Wycombe.



4  In the FA Cup, Tooting's best run came during the 1975/76 season. That year they beat St Albans City, Stevenage Athletic, Addlestone, Southall & Ealing Borough, Romford and Leatherhead to reach the 3rd Round. They then beat football league side Swindon Town 2-1 after a replay before going out 3-1 at Bradford City in the 4th Round. They last reached the 1st Round in 2009, losing 5-0 at Stockport County.

5  In other national cup competitions, Tooting & Mitcham United reached three FA Amateur Cup Finals, the FA Trophy Quarter-Final in 1976 (losing 1-0 at Scarborough) and the FA Vase Semi-Final in 2001 (losing 3-0 at Taunton Town)

6  Locally, the club has won the London Senior Cup on seven occasions, the latest win coming in 2016 with a 2-0 win over Hendon.

7  Tooting & Mitcham United played at Sandy Lane until 2002 when they moved to their current home at Imperial Fields.

8  Famous former players include Alex Stepney who went on to play as a goalkeeper for Manchester United after spending a couple of years at the club and making 35 appearances for the club.

9  Despite their name, the club is actually based in Morden which has a population of 48,233. A few minor celebrities come from the area, the clubs most well-known fans are Bog End Ant and Hackbridge Harry.

10  Tooting was made famous by the comedy show 'Citizen Smith', written by Only Fools and Horses creator John Sullivan. The main character was Wolfie, famous for his black and white scarf. However, he was not a fan of the Terrors, but Fulham, a fact that Mishi, a fan of their arch-rivals Dulwich Hamlet took great delight in pointing out in a letter to the Non-League Paper back in the day.



MY VISIT

Up until the day of this game, I was undecided if I was going to go or not. I had spent the few days before emailing and tweeting the club without reply and was ready to save my money, especially as I could get a couple of jobs out of the way on Friday night. But then I was flicking through the local CAMRA magazine and I saw that there was a beer festival in Windsor with a couple of ciders on that I had not tried. I saw that it was not too much of a detour on the way back from the game and that I could have a couple of halves and still be safe to drive home. So I stepped up my quest to find out how much it was to get in. If it was a tenner like the normal league games then it would be a definite NO, as those prices are too much for their step 4 league games, let alone a friendly against a Crawley Youth team. Eventually, I saw a supporters site (listed above) and emailed them. Within an hour they had got back to me promising to find out. And the next morning, they replied telling me that it was £5 Adults and £3 Concessions. Game On! I spent the day working until 12, did some shopping, getting some drinks and snacks for the nights game. I spent the afternoon watching England struggle to get the Aussies out in the 3rd test of the Ashes. I estimated just under 2 hours with traffic on a Friday night but left just after 5. I had a small job to do in Sainsbury's in Beaconsfield and would use the £7 earned to put towards petrol, especially as I was popping by Windsor after. Also, I had no one keeping me company and helping out with costs, so I was glad to do it. As the M25 was so congested, my Sat Nav ended up diverting me off and down the M4. I came off and went near Brentford's ground and through Chiswick for a long and frustrating tour of random parts of London. Eventually, I got to the ground, based in Morden, at around 7.25. I paid my money and went straight in, picking up a programme for 30p. It was only a single sheet of folded A4, but I was happy to pay that as I like to get a ticket or a programme from each ground that I visit. I only wish the other clubs that I had been to in pre-season had done it. It's a small earner for them too, and every penny counts at this level.




It wasn't the greatest of games, but Crawley put out a young side and it showed that experience is all important. The home side had much of the play, but nothing to show for their efforts at half time, with the game still goalless. Crawley took the lead just after the break when their number 9, Cecil Jey scored. This did galvanise them a bit and made them start to play better, but Tooting always had it within them to take control of the game. And that proved to be the case. Shortly after hitting the bar they got the equalising goal from Sol Pinnock, who finished tidily after being put in the clear. Just as it looked as time was running out, they got the winner. A great cross was put in, it found TJ Nkomo who sent the home fans into raptures as he put the ball into the net. It hadn't been the most entertaining of nights, but I was happy. It was another ground done, and a very nice one at that. The people had been friendly and there was a good club shop there, even if I didn't buy anything. It was a 35-minute drive to Windsor and a pub called the Fox and Castle. I had a couple of ciders from the Gwatkin Brewery called Game Cock and Silly Ewe. They were both OK, but a bit sweet for my liking, so I was glad to only have half of each. I was hankering after something dry and so after getting home, I cracked open one of my French ones that I had brought at Sainsbury's the previous week. For the first time in ages, I had a good nights sleep, getting in over 8 hours, before the start of the proper football season and a game against Morecambe.




So, that was the end of my friendlies for this season, and as I had said around a month ago, I wanted to try and spend less this season. I certainly managed that for the friendlies, for 13 games I spent £142, seeing 13 games and visiting 9 new grounds. Cheapest had been Penn & Tylers Green, a few miles from me and free entry. Most expensive was Havant and Waterlooville v Wycombe, where I was a passenger for once, and it ended costing me over £30. On reflection, I wish I'd not bothered, as I had been there before and it wasn't a great game. How do I work out those costs then? Well, first of all, is entry, self-explanatory, the price of the ticket to get into the game. Then travel. When driving, if it's just me and someone else, I will charge them 2/3 of the cost, bearing in mind that I have to fork out for all the expensive bits of car ownership. If it's more that one person, I will make the passengers pay the costs between them, well at least most of them anyway, putting in a small bit myself. Finally, the extras, the meals I have when out, and any drinks in pubs that are not 'new' ciders that I have not tried before. Finally, also the cost of a programme if I buy one, and anything spent in the tea bar on the day.



VISIT 2: HANWELL TOWN (0-1 - 16/11/19)

With Wycombe having no game on this Saturday, due to being away at Tranmere on the Sunday, I knew that I'd have a Saturday free. Public transport would be my favoured method of travel and so it boiled down to a choice of two destinations - either Birmingham or London. With Peckham Town at home I opted for London, the long term forecast not looking too wet, although as it turned out, it was quite wet in the build up. Peckham's pitch was dodgy at the best of times, so I had a range of backups lined up. It was a venue that had frustrated me many times, firstly on 1st December 2018 when Peckham Town v Bexley was lost to a waterlogged pitch. Another attempt on the 9th February was also thwarted to a waterlogged pitch and so I planned in a visit on 25th May. But Chagos Islands v Cascadia was switched to Whyteleafe and with me at a beer festival that day, I missed out. Attempt number four came last month against AFC Croydon Athletic, but once again it was postponed due to the weather, the game eventually played last week at the third attempt. I revisited Raynes Park Vale on that occasion, but was keen to do a new ground. This time I planned in backups at Frenford Reserves and Rochester United, plus a number of other options.



I'd had a few drinks with the England game on Thursday night, so it was a sober Friday for me and an early night. I was in bed and asleep by 9, but that did have the knock-on effect of me waking up at my normal work time of 4 am. After lying in bed for a bit watching TV, I got up around 7 and started checking up on news of any pitch inspections or postponements. There was no news at such an early hour and so I left home at 9, picking up a few bits from Tesco en route to Amersham station. I caught the 9.36 train, making the usual journey to Borough Market and more specifically, the New Forest Cider stall. I was not the least bit surprised when Peckham Town announced that their game was off, what with the miserable weather we'd had all week. Coupled with a dreadful pitch, it was inevitable that this would be the case. I started looking at alternatives, tweeting Rochester United first of all, though it was frustrating to hit the underground when I needed the Internet most of all. When I got to Borough Market, there was still no news. Even worse, my intended stall was closed, in the process of moving to a new stall, something they neglected to mention on their website or social media. I made my way to The Harp in Covent Garden and it was brilliant as usual though I did see some more fixtures fall at Frenford and Stonewall. A couple of pints later, I went to Five Guys for a delicious but pricey lunch. With no confirmation from Rochester, I decided to head to a revisit at Tooting and Mitcham who were offering a fiver entry to season ticket holders of other clubs for their game against Hanwell. I finally had a response from Rochester at 1.25 whilst I was at Kennington station, but it was too late to change my destination. I got to Morden, using the toilet at KFC, then got a bus partway to the ground. I thought it was strange that it went a different way but the morons at Merton Council had completely blocked off the road and footpath. No one working of course and despite trying to get through a housing estate, it was impossible. I eventually got a lift around from some friendly fans. I got to the ground at 2.45, paying a fiver to get in. I also got a pen from the club shop, expensive at £2 but after cheap entry, I was happy to pay.


 

Hanwell had the better of the first half, taking a 4th-minute lead through a penalty. The visitors were well adept at closing the game out and they came closest to scoring the next goal, hitting the left-hand post with ten minutes to go. They hit a good free-kick over with a few minutes to go and to be honest, Tooting were largely disappointing, having a lot of the ball but not really testing the Hanwell keeper. It was then a three-mile walk to the Sultan pub in Wimbledon, across all sorts of terrain. A pint and a half of cider later and I had made peace with the Rochester United Twitter account and also caught up online. From there it was a train to King's Cross where I went for a nice pie at Piebury Corner and soaked up the gravy with some fries from McDonald's. I decided to skip Westminster and was hoping to get a train all the way back to Amersham. However, this was not possible due to engineering works, so after changes at Green Park and Finchley Road I had under ten minutes wait for a train to Amersham. That went OK and I was back at Amersham by 9.30. Twenty minutes later I was back home, having a couple of drinks before going to bed around midnight. It had been a great day and I'd enjoyed my revisit to a decent club, even if I was disappointed not to visit a new ground.




THE GROUND

IMPERIAL FIELDS is a smart, modern non-league ground, built less than 10 years ago. There is a big seated stand from which you can get great views, especially from the back few rows. Opposite is flat standing. At either end, there are matching terraces. These are also pretty big, and are interesting in their design that they are not completely covered. Instead, an artistic looking roof covers just the middle part of the terrace. It certainly looks the part and would keep everyone dry in all but a big cup game. In fact, I'd say the ground was not a million miles away from being as good as some in the football league.

There are 2 tea bars in the ground, the most interesting of which is a Carribean Food Shack which must be unique for a non-league ground. From what I can see, it's open during the week too, to cater to the sizeable local Carribean population in the local area. It was a shame I had dinner before I came, as there was quite a lot of nice stuff in there that bought back memories of my holiday to Jamaica. There was a bar that the ground, but I didn't go in as access was from outside only, and I got to the ground fairly near kick-off. Finally, the club shop was great too, having a fair selection of league and non-league programmes, as well as a huge selection of Tooting home and aways. There was also a good selection of football books, as well as the usual range of club merchandise.

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