Post by Deleted on Oct 18, 2012 11:34:12 GMT
This week's adventure started with a phone call on Sunday evening. There was a space in the car for Brussels after somebody had dropped out at the last moment after the sudden death of his mother-in-law. The plan was to leave at 11am on Monday, go to a game that evening and another one on the way back.
The draw for the Ryman League Cup gave us the perfect game at Chatham Town and, with a "penalties after ninety minutes" clause, we'd have no difficulty in making the midnight Dover to Dunkirk ferry. We'd also be able to drop in on a couple of pubs en route at Woburn Sands and Upnor. The plan worked perfectly and, should you ever be driving to Gillingham, you'd do well to detour to the Kings Arms at Upnor on the northern shore of the Medway.
Chatham Town were founded in 1882 and, for most of that time, have played at a their present ground on the Maidstone Road. They were quite a force in Victorian times reaching the quarter-final of the FA Cup and becoming founder members of the Southern League. Had Chatham not hit financial difficulties around 1900 you imagine there may have been a possibility that Chatham - and not their neighbours New Brompton (later Gillingham) - may have become the area's pre-eminent club.
Chatham Town currently play in Division 1 (North) of the Ryman League. That means that practically every away trip involves a trip over or under the Thames at Dartford to play teams from Essex, Hertfordshire and East Anglia. Monday's opponents were Harrow Borough from a league above and the far Middlesex side of London. For a league cup game - when players are rested and the game itself a notch below normal - it was a decent enough game with Harrow winning 2-0. A goal in each half; a crowd of 89.
The Sports Ground is a tidy set-up with a fine old structure providing seating along one side; and a fairly typical little structure for this level on the opposite site. But the main feature is a fifteen-year-old facility at the Maidstone Road end which includes changing rooms and function facilities:
Pictures taken at night on a camera phone so of variable quality.
The draw for the Ryman League Cup gave us the perfect game at Chatham Town and, with a "penalties after ninety minutes" clause, we'd have no difficulty in making the midnight Dover to Dunkirk ferry. We'd also be able to drop in on a couple of pubs en route at Woburn Sands and Upnor. The plan worked perfectly and, should you ever be driving to Gillingham, you'd do well to detour to the Kings Arms at Upnor on the northern shore of the Medway.
Chatham Town were founded in 1882 and, for most of that time, have played at a their present ground on the Maidstone Road. They were quite a force in Victorian times reaching the quarter-final of the FA Cup and becoming founder members of the Southern League. Had Chatham not hit financial difficulties around 1900 you imagine there may have been a possibility that Chatham - and not their neighbours New Brompton (later Gillingham) - may have become the area's pre-eminent club.
Chatham Town currently play in Division 1 (North) of the Ryman League. That means that practically every away trip involves a trip over or under the Thames at Dartford to play teams from Essex, Hertfordshire and East Anglia. Monday's opponents were Harrow Borough from a league above and the far Middlesex side of London. For a league cup game - when players are rested and the game itself a notch below normal - it was a decent enough game with Harrow winning 2-0. A goal in each half; a crowd of 89.
The Sports Ground is a tidy set-up with a fine old structure providing seating along one side; and a fairly typical little structure for this level on the opposite site. But the main feature is a fifteen-year-old facility at the Maidstone Road end which includes changing rooms and function facilities:
Pictures taken at night on a camera phone so of variable quality.