12 midday 20 January 2018
Arthurian League, Premier Division
Old Marlburians 1 Old Foresters 2 (att 1)
It took until Friday evening before I settled on a plan of where to go, deciding the London area would avoid the worst of the weather while at the same time giving me plenty of choices of games to watch.
It also opened up the possibilities of a double, with a pair of Arthurian League fixtures starting at midday on nearby pitches, and two options of three o'clock kick offs to follow, all on 3G so with little chance of postponements.
The Arthurian League is one of the remaining bastions of true amateur football. Its clubs are old boys sides from public schools, so this fixture saw alumni from Marlborough School take on opponents who were educated at Forest School in Epping.
Old Foresters were once regular FA Cup entrants, and made the quarter finals in 1882. This season they have their eyes on the Arthurian League title, and went into this game top of the table, unbeaten and having conceded just twice while winning seven of their eight games.
Bottom-of-the-table Malburians made them work hard for this win, and were unfortunate not to get a draw. They had plenty of possession, Foresters early lead was against the run of play and Malburians' well-taken equaliser before half time was deserved.
The visitors always looked dangerous when they attacked though, and a second half goal meant they claimed all the points.
Old Marlburians' spiritual home is the school playing fields in Wiltshire, and they occasionally play home games there, but like most Arthurian League teams their usual base is a hired pitch in or around the capital.
They currently use a 3G pitch at Lincoln Field, a sort of annexe to Whitton Sports Centre in Twickenham. The midday kick off, as well as being useful to a groundhopper like me, was a necessity with fellow Arthurian Leaguers Old Wykehamists playing on the same pitch from 2pm.
Being very much a league for players rather than spectators, I wasn't too surprised to be the only person watching the match, but it was a decent game that deserved a bigger audience.
Arthurian League, Premier Division
Old Marlburians 1 Old Foresters 2 (att 1)
It took until Friday evening before I settled on a plan of where to go, deciding the London area would avoid the worst of the weather while at the same time giving me plenty of choices of games to watch.
It also opened up the possibilities of a double, with a pair of Arthurian League fixtures starting at midday on nearby pitches, and two options of three o'clock kick offs to follow, all on 3G so with little chance of postponements.
The Arthurian League is one of the remaining bastions of true amateur football. Its clubs are old boys sides from public schools, so this fixture saw alumni from Marlborough School take on opponents who were educated at Forest School in Epping.
Old Foresters were once regular FA Cup entrants, and made the quarter finals in 1882. This season they have their eyes on the Arthurian League title, and went into this game top of the table, unbeaten and having conceded just twice while winning seven of their eight games.
Bottom-of-the-table Malburians made them work hard for this win, and were unfortunate not to get a draw. They had plenty of possession, Foresters early lead was against the run of play and Malburians' well-taken equaliser before half time was deserved.
The visitors always looked dangerous when they attacked though, and a second half goal meant they claimed all the points.
Old Marlburians' spiritual home is the school playing fields in Wiltshire, and they occasionally play home games there, but like most Arthurian League teams their usual base is a hired pitch in or around the capital.
They currently use a 3G pitch at Lincoln Field, a sort of annexe to Whitton Sports Centre in Twickenham. The midday kick off, as well as being useful to a groundhopper like me, was a necessity with fellow Arthurian Leaguers Old Wykehamists playing on the same pitch from 2pm.
Being very much a league for players rather than spectators, I wasn't too surprised to be the only person watching the match, but it was a decent game that deserved a bigger audience.
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