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London Boys
Mar. 31st, 2013 10:35 amLearned from Twitter just over a week ago that Clapton, one of London's oldest non-league football clubs - and a team I've always had an affection for, having supported them in my final year at uni - were facing the threat of losing their ground, possibly putting the existence of the club in jeopardy. I joined the Friends of Clapton FC straight away, and decided I had to see one more game at the Old Spotted Dog while it was still there. And so yesterday I ventured to the East End to see the 'Tons' play Sawbridgeworth Town.
The train to London was jam-packed, as the one before had been cancelled, so I had to stand, together with a horde of Arsenal fans on their way to the Emirates. While I was on the train![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
whalefish tweeted to say he might be coming to the Clapton match.
On the walk up from Forest Gate station, stopped at the Nur restaurant for some excellent Turkish cuisine then moseyed on up to the ground. Manning the turnstile was Paul, the secretary of the Friends of Clapton FC. I introduced myself - he and I follow each other on Twitter - and he thanked me for my support. Admission and a programme were £7.50 and Paul said it would help if I'd got change. I didn't have the exact money, but saw a poster on his hut advertising badges for £3 with all proceeds going to the Friends, and did have 50p in change. The badge is an impressive-looking round metal one with the club crest on a black background. It's presumably some years old as it celebrates "100 Years at the Old Spotted Dog" and Clapton have been playing there since 1888. No matter, it's a handsome badge, sold to support a great club, and it's in pride of place on my jacket.
None of the people I met on my last visit two years ago were there. Gone were the Irish turnstile lady, the young female X Factor hopeful and her friend, Dennis the then chairman and Wilf the then manager/barman. Behind the bar now was the club's chief executive Vince. When I asked after Wilf, Vince said Wilf had stepped down at the end of last season, needing a break after two seasons of doing almost everything at the club, but was still involved with the youth side.
There was quite a good crowd for this game, thanks to the interest in the club generated on Twitter and the article on 200%. I met several of the Clapton fans I'd begun following on Twitter over the last week, and Spencer, a Fulham and Wingate & Finchley fan who is a friend of Bob Stanley of St Etienne fame. Apparently Bob is a regular spectator at Wingate but prefers not to be recognised there; Spencer said how he'd been in the club bar once with Bob when someone approached him and asked him to sign a CD.
The game was a 0-0 draw but not dull, both teams played open attacking football and had plenty of shots on goal, and the atmosphere was enlivened by a group of students from East London University who put out flags on the little covered terrace and kept chanting all through the match. Paul explained to me that a couple of the students had come to a home game once, liked it and got their friends to accompany them - "why pay £40 to see West Ham or £25 to see Orient when they can come here for six quid and still have a good time?" Paul and Gavin said the club had identified a couple of possible alternative grounds to play on next season but they were optimistic that the Old Spotted Dog would be saved.
The final whistle went. On my way out Gavin and Paul shook my hand and thanked me for my support and I promised to come again next season. I hadn't spottedwhalefish all afternoon, but on the train back to Liverpool Street I got a tweet from him to say he hadn't spotted me, but that it was difficult to recognise someone you haven't seen since 2006. He said he was in the nearby Wetherspoons; I had to tweet back to say sorry, I was already homeward bound.
Back home, went down to the local British Legion to see rockabilly/rock 'n' roll band This Little Girl & The Dillicats. They were pretty good.
Comment of the day from Facebook : in reply to my post that I was "going to see Clapton at the Old Spotted Dog", a friend of mine expressed surprise that Eric was playing live in a London pub instead of an arena...
Rejoice, Lent is over and I have a posh Easter egg from Aldi. Saving it for the Classic Retro Countdown of March 1967 on Atlantic Oldies this afternoon.
The train to London was jam-packed, as the one before had been cancelled, so I had to stand, together with a horde of Arsenal fans on their way to the Emirates. While I was on the train
whalefish tweeted to say he might be coming to the Clapton match.On the walk up from Forest Gate station, stopped at the Nur restaurant for some excellent Turkish cuisine then moseyed on up to the ground. Manning the turnstile was Paul, the secretary of the Friends of Clapton FC. I introduced myself - he and I follow each other on Twitter - and he thanked me for my support. Admission and a programme were £7.50 and Paul said it would help if I'd got change. I didn't have the exact money, but saw a poster on his hut advertising badges for £3 with all proceeds going to the Friends, and did have 50p in change. The badge is an impressive-looking round metal one with the club crest on a black background. It's presumably some years old as it celebrates "100 Years at the Old Spotted Dog" and Clapton have been playing there since 1888. No matter, it's a handsome badge, sold to support a great club, and it's in pride of place on my jacket.
None of the people I met on my last visit two years ago were there. Gone were the Irish turnstile lady, the young female X Factor hopeful and her friend, Dennis the then chairman and Wilf the then manager/barman. Behind the bar now was the club's chief executive Vince. When I asked after Wilf, Vince said Wilf had stepped down at the end of last season, needing a break after two seasons of doing almost everything at the club, but was still involved with the youth side.
There was quite a good crowd for this game, thanks to the interest in the club generated on Twitter and the article on 200%. I met several of the Clapton fans I'd begun following on Twitter over the last week, and Spencer, a Fulham and Wingate & Finchley fan who is a friend of Bob Stanley of St Etienne fame. Apparently Bob is a regular spectator at Wingate but prefers not to be recognised there; Spencer said how he'd been in the club bar once with Bob when someone approached him and asked him to sign a CD.
The game was a 0-0 draw but not dull, both teams played open attacking football and had plenty of shots on goal, and the atmosphere was enlivened by a group of students from East London University who put out flags on the little covered terrace and kept chanting all through the match. Paul explained to me that a couple of the students had come to a home game once, liked it and got their friends to accompany them - "why pay £40 to see West Ham or £25 to see Orient when they can come here for six quid and still have a good time?" Paul and Gavin said the club had identified a couple of possible alternative grounds to play on next season but they were optimistic that the Old Spotted Dog would be saved.
The final whistle went. On my way out Gavin and Paul shook my hand and thanked me for my support and I promised to come again next season. I hadn't spotted
whalefish all afternoon, but on the train back to Liverpool Street I got a tweet from him to say he hadn't spotted me, but that it was difficult to recognise someone you haven't seen since 2006. He said he was in the nearby Wetherspoons; I had to tweet back to say sorry, I was already homeward bound.Back home, went down to the local British Legion to see rockabilly/rock 'n' roll band This Little Girl & The Dillicats. They were pretty good.
Comment of the day from Facebook : in reply to my post that I was "going to see Clapton at the Old Spotted Dog", a friend of mine expressed surprise that Eric was playing live in a London pub instead of an arena...
Rejoice, Lent is over and I have a posh Easter egg from Aldi. Saving it for the Classic Retro Countdown of March 1967 on Atlantic Oldies this afternoon.
