Mundford - The Glebe

Mundford FC

The Glebe

St Leonards Street 

Mundford

Thetford 

Norfolk

IP26 5DW

FA Full Time Page

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Ground Number: 1198

Tuesday 4th July 2022
Mundford 1-4 Lakenheath
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MUNDFORD FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1907 as per the club badge, but as with lots of clubs at this level, information on them is scarce. They appear to have been long-time members of the Anglian Combination, the first record I can find of them was winning Division 3 in 1982. By 1997, they were well established in Division 2, winning the title in 2006. However, their stay in Division 1 was short-lived as they finished bottom and went straight back down. The hangover continued and they suffered a second successive relegation, though they did win Division 3 for a second time in 2009. Results improved and by 2013 they had earned another chance in Divison 1 after finishing as runners-up to Foulsham. It was another single season with a rock-bottom finish but by 2016, they'd won promotion again, claiming their second Division 2 title. This time they fared a lot better, spending three seasons in Division 1 before winning promotion to the Premier Division after following as runners-up to UEA. Progress has been steady rather than spectacular - last season they finished 10th.

They certainly have the facilities for a tilt at the Eastern Counties League or at least a good base to build on. Mundford is a village near Thetford in Norfolk. The population is around 1,500. Lynford Quarry in Mundford is a well-preserved in-situ Middle Palaeolithic open-air site dating to 60,000 years ago that is believed to show evidence of Neanderthal activity. On 16 December 1942, British double agent Eddie Chapman was flown on a mission to Britain by the Germans in a Focke-Wulf bomber, converted for parachuting, from Le Bourget airfield. He was equipped with a wireless, pistol, cyanide capsule and £1,000 and, amongst other things, was given the task of sabotaging the de Havilland aircraft factory at Hatfield. After an uncomfortable flight, during which he suffered a nosebleed due to a poorly tightened oxygen mask, Chapman became stuck in the hatch as he tried to leave the aircraft. Finally detaching himself, he landed some distance from the target location of Mundford, near the village of Littleport, Cambridgeshire.

MY VISIT

It had been a while since I'd driven to a midweek game, in fact getting on for six weeks. But with all of Colin, Martin & Anwar available, it was a good opportunity to do a game. There was not the greatest amount of choice though, at least not in terms of one that was practical to do whilst picking everyone up. Originally, I thought I'd found a decent game in Downham Town v Parson Drove and it had a preferable kickoff time of 7 PM. However, the day before, the opposition pulled out. It was a disappointment, but I'd not yet started my research, so no time was wasted. The club was even kind enough to message me and say that they would now be playing a training game on an outside pitch which was appreciated. Luckily, I had a ready-made replacement in Mundford Town v Lakenheath. This had been spotted by fellow hopper Dan and was better than his usual implausible suggestions.

I did all of my research on Monday evening. The ground looked very decent, though it was a bit limited on the food and takeaways front. It was also harder to find out about the history of the club, but as usual, the FCHD (Football Club History Database) was a godsend. I always like to give clubs like this coverage on my blog but even for a club that has been off the radar for the vast majority of casual hoppers, it had been pretty well visited. There were plenty of good grounds around this area but for whatever reason, attempts to get an Anglian Combination hop off the ground had not come to fruition. It was good to see Lakenheath confirm game on Tuesday lunchtime.

Elsewhere, it was the standard day off work and walk to town and back, 11 miles in all. I was back at about 1.30 and had bought all the bits to do a Keema Curry for my lunch which was very nice. It also served as a way to cook meals for work where we just have a microwave. Time was quite tight though and I didn't have to wait too long until it came time to leave at 2.45. I made reasonable time but was not too pleased with Martin pulling out at the last minute for an unspecified reason with no apology. It wasn't the greatest journey over to Anwar, all winding country roads but we got there after 4. The rain was also torrential and there were plenty of hold-ups with traffic in the rush hour. Though it rained all the way, it eased off once we got to Thetford. We selected USA Fried Chicken and Pizza for our meal. I had 12-inch pizza with steak, jalapeños, green peppers and tomato. This was good but not exceptional. I'd gone for the 12-inch and struggled to finish it but had I gone for the 9-inch I'd have been hungry.

From there it was 15 minutes to the ground where we parked on the street outside. It was a very pleasant setting but despite rain again on the way it stopped when we got there. It was a good open game too. Mundford opened the scoring on 12 minutes, a free kick curled in from the right and creeping inside the near post by Carlos Rocha. a minute later, Lakenheath equalised, a shot blasted home from the edge of the area by Casey Richards, right in the corner. It was end to end and with plenty of strong challenges going in from both sides. In the second half, Lakenheath had a goal ruled out, after a parried shot was followed up. They did take the lead with a Tommy Thulburn lob after a direct move on 59 minutes. It was 3-1 around ten minutes after that, a low shot from close range by Luke Young. Mundford had given a decent account of themselves but with the visitors playing a couple of steps higher, the difference was starting to show. It was 4-1 on 82 minutes, a shot from wide out on the right, a well-worked move. The Lakenheath keeper made a great save towards the end to preserve the three-goal margin.

There were around 70 in attendance that had come out on a drizzly night. The rain picked up again on the way home and I don't think it stopped raining from the moment we left Amersham to the moment I got home. It was a pretty good journey although some road closures meant that we took some pretty obscure roads, many of which were waterlogged. This had a bad effect on fuel economy, dipping well below 40mpg. Greatest Hits Radio had been our soundtrack there and back and it made the journey pass fairly quickly. I dropped Anwar off at 11.30, and Colin off at 11.55, getting on myself just under 15 minutes later. It had been a nice place to visit, next up for me is likely to be a revisit to Tilbury on Friday.

THE GROUND

THE GLEBE is a great venue for the level, set in pleasant greenery and very well kept. The pitch is fully railed and there's a small area of cover holding around 50 standing. This has a small tea bar in it but I didn't see any bar or clubhouse. The changing rooms are a fair way away alongside the main parking at the village hall. 

New Dales Vale - Archdales

New Dales Vale FC

Archdales Sports & Social Club

Windermere Drive 

Worcester 

Worcestershire

WR4 9JA

Official Website

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Ground Number: 1197
Saturday 1st July 2023
New Dales Vale 1-5 Worcester City

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NEW DALES VALE FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club is a fairly new one and can trace its origins back to 2015 when it started out as the reserve side of Malvern Vale, later becoming the academy, all whilst playing in the Cheltenham League. Their original pitch was at the King George V hub, less than a mile from their current home. After a couple of unremarkable seasons, they were runners-up in Division 4, narrowly missing out on the title to Prestbury Rovers Reserves. They finished a fair way ahead of third-place Welland Reserves but had to hold their nerve in a penalty shootout to gain promotion to Division 3 in the playoff game. They were Division 3 champions in 2019, scoring 148 goals in 35 games, this time jumping a division into Division 1. The pandemic interrupted proceedings and in the interim the club moved to their current base, changing their name to New Dales Vale in the process. Their success in the two abandoned seasons saw them lift the Cheltenham Junior Cup, defeating Whaddon United 6-0 in the final. Since joining the Hellenic League Division 2 West in 2021, New Dales Vale have finished runners-up twice - firstly to Sporting Club Inkberrow and last season to Feckenham.

The Archdales Sports & Social Club was originally home to Archdale FC, later known as Archdales 73 who played in the Midland Combination between 1989 and when they folded in 2013. They now play local football. They were Division 2 champions in 2005 and finished 4th in Division 1 in their final season - this was at step 7 of non-league - the equivalent of today's Midland D2. Other teams in Worcester include Worcester City and Worcester Raiders, finally together in the Hellenic Premier this season. Worcester is a cathedral city and the county town of Worcestershire. It has a population of 104,000. It's most famous former resident is the former cricketer and Pakistan Prime Minister, Imran Khan.

MY VISIT

The football season was officially back today. Thanks to the dictators at the FA, clubs had not been allowed to arrange friendlies in June and as a result, there had been very few games. That started with the calendar moving over to July, but there still wasn't a huge amount that fitted my criteria. That was to be a good value day out and also to have lots of pubs. Also, it be a ground worth visiting which was easier said than done with many clubs resting their pitches and using 3G cages. I had a look at a few before stumbling on a real gem - New Dales Vale v Worcester City. The ground was decent if not amazing but the train fare was great value at £26 return with split tickets. The Trainline app did all the work for you, though it was a rare case of a good price without advance tickets. As I discovered on Thursday when I did my research, there were plenty of good pubs. I'd briefly nipped out of the station to a very good Wetherspoons on the way back from Hereford in December, although sadly this was now closed. Even so, there was another Spoons and a couple more I had my eye on.

The day of the game came, and I had a typically rubbish night's sleep, waking at 5.30 after four hours sleep. I gave up on going back to sleep and instead watched TV. After breakfast, a shower and getting dressed, I left home at 8.35. Despite a touch of drizzle in the air, it was a pleasant walk to the station with me getting there at 9.45. It was six minutes to wait for my train and despite everywhere being very busy, I managed to get a seat. It wasn't the most pleasant of trains, but that's generally what you get with Chiltern Railways. Breaking down the cost of my split ticket, the High Wycombe to Oxford ticket, covering a 60-mile round journey cost £11, working out at over 18p a mile, even with a Railcard discount. The non-discounted trip on GWR from Oxford to Worcester, a full 140-mile round trip worked out at under 11p a mile. I was disappointed on two counts, firstly that there is not a national railcard for solo travellers if you are outside of their age discrimination. But mainly that my local train operator was greedy.

Back to my journey, the train emptied at Bicester for the shopping village. I couldn't think of anything worse than spending a Saturday in retail hell when you can get stuff delivered, but each to their own. Either way, I was glad of the space and the train was slightly more pleasant. A change at Oxford took slightly longer than expected due to a Cross Country service hanging about. It was only six minutes in any case and the GWR train was far nicer. It had a table which was useful, even if it wasn't as pleasant as the plush first-class seats. Probably not worth the extra though, especially when I got a double seat to myself amongst the peasants. We arrived in Worcester 15 minutes late, no biggie with plenty of time to kill but just late enough to claim delay repay. It was not far to the Imperial Tavern where a pint of Joe's Farmhouse Dry was enjoyed for £4.50. It was then to the Crown Wetherspoons, a hotel with three ciders. I had a pint of Katy Perry and a bowl of curry sauce and chips. It filled a gap before I walked to the ground. I stopped at Lidl to get some bakery bits and drinks before walking to the ground.

Entry was £5 and included a basic programme. It was Worcester City who were comparative giants and they started on top. A cross from the right and a header at the far post through Robbie Thompson-Brown gave the visitors the lead on 15 minutes. There was not a huge amount of energy though and it looked as if they were coasting. On 40 minutes, it was all square, a chance on the break and a finish from the edge of the area to make it 1-1. Two minutes later, Worcester retook the lead through Connor Gater, another cross from the right, another header, this time at the near post. The direction of the game continued in the second half, Worcester smacked the bar before the ball bounced clear. Worcester took a 3-1 lead on 63 minutes, following up from a twice-cleared free kick. On 71 minutes, Worcester led 4-1, a right-sided corner headed home. A lob over the keeper made it 5-1 on 80 minutes. It was a hat-trick from Dylan Hart in the second half that gave Worcester the win.

It had been a pleasant day out and New Dales Vale had done themselves proud as hosts. They must have enjoyed the attendance of around 200 though it was a shame that I saw no merch. Twitter had been iffy all afternoon, so I'd have to wait if details of scorers had been posted. From the ground, it was a mega walk to my final pub, the Bull Baiters Inn. But what an amazing place, despite being situated on the wrong side of town for the station. A great choice of cider and more dogs than Krufts. I had a pint of Barker's Perry but being proper cider, it was not the sort you could sling down your neck at a great pace. From there I made an unhappy trip to the train station, getting my on-time train at 19.15. I had to change in Oxford and was annoyed that my 20.45 Chiltern to High Wycombe was cancelled. In reality, it was only a 20-minute delay but it felt like ages. Another can was enjoyed on the train with me back just after 10. I stopped for a pint of Black Dragon at Wetherspoons and after all that booze was well smashed. I got a taxi home and was back just after 11, going straight to bed and having to do my blog the next day. The official attendance for the game was 340, even better than I'd thought.

THE GROUND

ARCHDALES SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB is a decent setup for the level. The pitch is hemmed in quite tight but all four sides are accessible. The one small area of cover is situated between the two dugouts and holds around 20. The pitch is partially railed towards the clubhouse end. The clubhouse itself and offers a reasonable range of drinks. There is a small car park. Further afield is a Lidl, a KFC. Mcdonald's and various other shops.