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Epping Town FC - latest David Bauckham photo essay

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    Epping Town FC - latest David Bauckham photo essay

    Don't know if anyone's flagged these up before: WSC/Groundtastic photographer and occasional OTFer David Bauckham has been posting a superb series of photo-essays on non-league football, and the latest one - about Epping FC and its struggle to work with its town council - is here.

    #2
    Those are fantastic. Just great to see real local football.

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      #3
      I love his site, you really have to set aside a bit of time and focus on the whole articles for quite a while to get the most out of them.

      I wish there was the market for a book of them to be published.

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        #4
        I grew up a couple of miles away from Epping, went to school there and can now walk for 10 minutes over the old Central Line track and through the forest and emerge by the railed off pitch Epping call home.

        The whole "return to Senior Football" was nothing more than a delusional ego trip for those involved. As you can see from the pictures, the 'crowd' they get over there barely reaches double figures, yet the old manager would claim attendances of 40 or 50.

        As an update on goings on, Billy Cove (the manager) has taken over at Bishop's Stortford Swifts, the old Swifts' manager has taken over at Epping and the old chairman, Chris Ottaway, has taken over at Harlow Town. It's claimed he's been a long-term fan of Harlow, much like it was claimed about Epping Town and its interesting as I was told recently that Harlow owed their old chairman, Tommy Cunningham, a six-figure sum relating to a loan when they moved into their current home. Whether that has been settled, I'm not sure.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by Jumbo McGinnis View Post
          The whole "return to Senior Football" was nothing more than a delusional ego trip for those involved. As you can see from the pictures, the 'crowd' they get over there barely reaches double figures, yet the old manager would claim attendances of 40 or 50.
          Yes, but at the risk of making an obvious point, if the club gets some help from the council, and facilities and results subsequently improve, then the crowds will improve too. Judging from David's piece, the town council seems utterly uninterested in having the team as part of the community, and is even being actively obstructive rather than just not giving a toss.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by imp View Post

            Yes, but at the risk of making an obvious point, if the club gets some help from the council, and facilities and results subsequently improve, then the crowds will improve too. Judging from David's piece, the town council seems utterly uninterested in having the team as part of the community, and is even being actively obstructive rather than just not giving a toss.
            I question some of that, too.

            The council are right in their unease about facilitating any progress there. For many, many years, Stonards Hill and specifically the terracing and the old “stand” there were places kids hung about, myself included, and anti-social behaviour was prevalent there for years.

            I don’t think the council are obstructive in any way, they took down a metal stand that held about eight people at a big push that was the centre of ASB in the area and there appears to be rules and regulations about the building of land/buildings on the park, which restricts the club but is no way obstructive. Antiquated perhaps, but that’s not surprising from the council.

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              #7
              Being one of the closest grounds to me too, I visited Epping earlier this season.

              I had a chat with Chris Ottoway, and even then he was talking more about a period when he was involved with Harlow, than what he was doing at Epping.

              They're in the Olympian Division Two (and were in Division Four last season), so what exactly are they hoping for from the Council? That ground will do them for at least a couple more promotions.

              I think Ottoway and Cove came in expecting to walk through the leagues, and the Council to fall at their feet. When it became clear neither would happen, they've both thrown their toys out of the pram and left the club in the lurch.

              More photos: http://andrzejperkins.co.uk/portfoli...an-aet-7-9-19/

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Forest Gump View Post
                Being one of the closest grounds to me too, I visited Epping earlier this season.

                I had a chat with Chris Ottoway, and even then he was talking more about a period when he was involved with Harlow, than what he was doing at Epping.

                They're in the Olympian Division Two (and were in Division Four last season), so what exactly are they hoping for from the Council? That ground will do them for at least a couple more promotions.

                I think Ottoway and Cove came in expecting to walk through the leagues, and the Council to fall at their feet. When it became clear neither would happen, they've both thrown their toys out of the pram and left the club in the lurch.
                I certainly got that impression from Ottaway and Cove's social media activity, it was all a bit self righteous and I think they expected people, the council included, to put them on a pedestal and give them whatever wanted. The vanity project lasted just 18 months, though Epping have survived.



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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Ray de Galles View Post
                  I love his site, you really have to set aside a bit of time and focus on the whole articles for quite a while to get the most out of them.
                  Indeed. I wallowed in nostalgia for a while yesterday, reading the Tooting & Mitcham and Harrow Borough articles and reminiscing about past visits. Great stuff.

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                    #10
                    Epping have announced they’re leaving their home of Stonards Hill for Epping Upper Clapton Rugby Club (based in the village of Thornwood, between Epping and Harlow). I suppose this is seen as a positive as they don’t have to deal with the obstructive council any longer.

                    I’ve not been over to EUCRFC for about 10 years, where it used to host all sixteen year-old birthday parties, as they’d serve anyone at all. They’ve had a big refurb since then, it was planned for absolute years.

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