Trophy Life - Matchgoing Sept 25 - Oct 1

[Artificial Hipster]

Warrington Town 2-0 Atherton Collieries
NPL Premier Division

"And now you've gotta believe us, the Town are going up!" sang a pocket of maybe a couple of dozen noisy home fans gathered around an irritant with a drum (to the left of the covered area behind the goal in the picture below), and this before they'd even scored. And while they probably just about deserved to make it 3 wins out of 3 this wasn't a particularly convincing performance to my eyes. This may however have had something to do with the blue shorts/yellow shirts combination which always puts me in mind of pub teams

Having positioned myself as far as possible from the aforementioned drum I didn't get a great view of either Warrington goal but I was perfectly placed to witness 4 defenders gang up on Colls' no. 9 in the box for the penalty which should have drawn them level.

[Ray de Galles]

Potters Bar Town 3 Cheshunt 0

An easy ground to tick off for me and a local derby to boot, which made the game a bit spicy once we'd scanned into Track and Trace and then had our temperature taken. It is possible to socially distance with a crowd of 248, but a lot of people chose not to.

The early-eason form book went out of the window and Potters Bar were 2-0 up by half-time after an excellent display. This was followed by a sitter after half-time and then the game petered out into petulance and handbags, Cheshunt also missing a penalty. They were lucky to get nil.

A number of fans seemed happier watching Spurs v Chelsea in the clubhouse instead. You pays yer money, I guess...

I was also at this game with my brother and a local mate of his as mentioned upthread. Sadly mine and Trin's plans to recognise each other due to us both being tall didn't work.

He's certainly covered the salient points of the game. It was surprising to discover that the win was The Scolars' first league points of the season and that Cheshunt previously had won both their games given the disparity in quality between them.

Potters Bar's number 11 Nana Kyei was very impressive, setting up the first and scoring the other two and their play was a level above Cheshunt's all game. There certainly was plenty of needle on the pitch and off it too as both teams had a vocal set of fans behind the goals. The visitors all being lairy teenagers whose "Your 'Spoons is shit!" chant was a novel expression of local civic rivalry to me.

A lovely set up at Parkfield, really well run outdoor bars, food and seating area which even had TV screens serving it.

A particular highlight for my brother was a wayward late clearance shattering the F in "Football Club" of the sign on the stand below, though he wished it had been the P in Potters.

[Ray de Galles]

Does anyone have any idea what the image in the middle of Potters Bar's badge is meant to be? It's also on the badge of the Mount Grace School that the club was formed at and originally names after (hence the nickname) but that doesn't enlighten me either. It looks like a nail being driven through a plank but is it something to do with pottery?

[ursus arctos]

My guess is that it is a rail and spike, due to the railways' central role in the town's development

[Ray de Galles]

Ah yes, that makes sense - thanks. Wikipedia makes rather more of the history of rail accidents than the part it's played in the overall development of the town.

[ursus arctos]

From the local historical society

Up until 1835 Potters Bar was a very small settlement within the parish of South Mimms and included in their records. It was not until 1835 that Potters Bar became a parish in its own right. In 1871 the population stood at just 1,198 which included the hamlets of Bentley Heath and "Gannic Corner".

Although being on the route of the Great North Road, the 18th & 19th century version of the M1, Potters Bar remained unchanged. It was not until the coming of the Great Northern Railway in 1850 which was to bring its first transformation. The location of the Potters Bar & South Mimms railway station in Darkes Lane signalled what was to be the first major change for Potters Bar in many centuries. At the time of opening, Darkes Lane was nothing but open countryside, it was inevitable that the area surrounding the new station would be developed in time, yet it was not until the 20th century when the Darkes Lane we know today started to take shape.

[Merlin the happy pig]

Tuesday 29th. West Midlands (regional) League Premier Division. Worcester Raiders 4-0 Wolverhampton Sporting.

Not a bad ground for step 6.