3pm 13 April 2024
Middlesex County League, Premier Division
Feltham 1 London Tigers 1 (att 25)
I've mentioned in previous blog posts that my first experience of non-league football was watching my then local team at Feltham Arena back in the 1980s. As I moved away I saw them less often, with new grounds becoming my main motivation for choosing matches.
After a merger with Bedfont the old club effectively disappeared a few years ago, before being reborn at adult level this season. I watched their first game, a 4-0 thrashing at Larkspur Rovers, but it's taken until near the end of the season for me to finally get to a home game.
By my reckoning the last time I saw Feltham FC at home was in February 1989, although a couple of years later I did see them at home under the short-lived name of Feltham and Hounslow Borough.
It's been a tough debut season for the revived club. That opening day defeat was the first of many, and they went into this fixture adrift at the bottom of the division. However, victory in their last match, just their second in the league all season, was a reason for optimism.
I don't know how many players from the start of the season are still involved, but this version of Feltham showed far more of the steel and guile needed for this level of football.
They deserved their first half lead, a towering header from a corner, and were desperately unlucky not to get another three points. Some good chances for a second goal were spurned before, in stoppage time, a deflected free kick gave London Tigers an equaliser.
Feltham Arena was demolished long ago, and options for a home ground in the local area are limited. For now Feltham are sharing facilities with Spelthorne Sports FC, but have their own pitch beyond the cricket field.
It's basic, as you'd expect for this level. The near side of the pitch is roped off, while on the far side some chairs are set out to serve as dugouts. It's been a tough season, but fingers crossed the 'new' Feltham FC will grow and become properly re-established as one of the area's prominent clubs.
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