Thame United FC
Meadow View Park
Tythrop Way
Thame
Oxfordshire
OX9 3RN
Ground: 53
Date: Saturday 1st September 2018
Thame United 2-1 Yaxley
Southern League Division 1 Central
Attendance: 72 (official)
Attendance: 72 (official)
Thame United FC - History
Thame United were founded in 1883, and spent much of their early years playing in local leagues within Oxfordshire. In 1959, the club made the step up to the Hellenic League and went on to win the title in 1962 and again in 1970, with a variety of finishes (mostly top-half finishes) in the seasons in between. The club continued in the Hellenic League Premier Division for another 18 years after the second title winning, finishing as runners-up in 1977 and 1981, but finishing as low as 17th in 1987.
After finishing 9th in the league in the 1987/88 season, the club decided to transfer to the South Midlands League Premier Division. After poor finishes in the previous few seasons, the transfer saw a drastic upturn in the club's fortunes, with back-to-back 2nd-place finishes followed by the title in 1991. This saw the club promoted to Division 3 of the Isthmian League and, in their second season in this league, the club finished as runners-up to earn promotion to Division 2. The club then spent two seasons at this level before winning the title in the 1994/95 season to earn promotion to Division 1.
Initially, the club spent three seasons in Division 1, finishing in the bottom half in the first two seasons before finishing rock-bottom in the third to be relegated back to Division 2. However, a 3rd-place finish saw the club promoted back to Division 1 at the first attempt, and this time the club fared much better at this level, finishing 4th and 5th in their first two seasons before finishing 11th in the 2001/02 season.
The 2002/03 season saw Division 1 split into North and South, with the club being placed in the North Division. The club finished 8th and 15th in their two seasons in this division, before league reorganisation saw the club transferred into Division 1 West of the Southern League. After finishing 11th in the 2004/05 season, the club was hit by severe financial difficulties, with this resulting in the club's eviction from their Windmill Road ground. As a result, the 2005/06 season saw the club groundshare at Aylesbury United and finish bottom of the league, being relegated back to the Hellenic League.
The summer of 2006 then saw Aylesbury United evicted from their ground, leading Thame to enter a new groundshare agreement with AFC Wallingford. Unsurprisingly, the club finished bottom of the Hellenic League Premier Division and were relegated into Division 1 East. The club spent three seasons at this level before winning the league and earning promotion back to the Premier Division for the 2010/11 season.
The club moved into its current ground in January 2011 and finished 10th in the Premier Division that season. Similar finishes followed for the next few seasons until the club won the title in the 2016/17 season to earn promotion to Division 1 East of the Southern League, the club then finishing 11th in their first season at this level.
In the FA Cup, the club progressed as far as the 4th Qualifying Round in two consecutive seasons: in the 2003/04 season, the club beat Egham Town, VCD Athletic, Thamesmead Town and Bath City before losing to Farnborough Town; in the 2004/05 season, the club beat Norwich United, Gorleston, Enfield Town and Weymouth before losing to Forest Green Rovers. In the FA Trophy, the club progressed as far as the 3rd Round in the 2002/03 season, beating Bromley and Horsham before losing to Windsor & Eton. As for the FA Vase, the club reached the Semi-Finals in the 1998/99 season, beating Bicester Town, Letchworth, Warrington Town, Vauxhall GM and Woodbridge Town before losing over two legs to Bedlington Terriers.
My Visit
With the Yaxley Supporters' Coach making it significantly easier to get to away games this season (at least when I'm not at University and am at home instead), this groundhop was easily decided on and, with the weather being nice all week in the build-up to the game, there were no obstacles in my way to doing this groundhop.
On the day of the game, I left the house just before 11am and walked to the ground to get on the Supporters' Coach, which was slated to leave at half 11. As it turned out though, there weren't many supporters utilising the coach on this occasion, so it was pretty much a players' coach instead. Regardless, we left just after the intended time and made good progress, making a brief stop at Brampton services to pick up a few of the players before continuing.
Progress was smooth until the coach went past Milton Keynes, at which point several roads were closed and forced diversions to be taken, with the coach having to go through Leighton Buzzard (and past the decent-looking ground of Leighton Town on the way) and various other small towns and villages before arriving at the ground around 10 minutes before 2pm. I went to then find the entrance to the ground but, with the turnstiles being closed at this point, I headed into the clubhouse to watch the last 20 or so minutes of Leicester vs Liverpool.
Even after that finished, I didn't then head over to the turnstiles until just over 20 minutes before kick-off, at which point I paid £8 for admission and received a free teamsheet in lieu of a programme (Thame United are one of a growing number of clubs to transition to online-only programmes). I then quickly did my usual circuit of photos before moving behind the near goal at kick-off, then moving behind the far goal for the second half (to match where Yaxley were shooting towards each half).
With the home side being top of the league and unbeaten, and considering our struggles so far this season, I was expecting a tough game but hoping we could get some more points on the board regardless. Here's my report on yet another frustrating result for us, albeit with some improvement on previous games:
Our difficult start to life at Step 4 continues, but the performance was once again an improvement on the previous game.
We made the worst start possible, the defence caught napping after 3 minutes and allowing Thame's Andy Gledhill to score. The situation then worsened 4 minutes later when a simple ball over the top once again set Gledhill through, and he once again had an easy finish. At this point, it seemed like we were in for a thrashing, but despite being utterly shell-shocked by that start, the defence started to shore things up and this gave us a necessary kick up the backside to get us going. Much of the rest of the half was a fairly even game, with both teams creating chances but neither particularly looking like scoring; if either team came closer to scoring in this period, it was us. However, profligate finishing kept the scoreline as it was until half-time.
The half-time break was unfortunate for us, as near the end of the first half we had really started to build some momentum and were starting to dominate the game. Once we came back for the second half, however, we made a slow start again and, until Tom Waumsley came on just after the hour mark, we looked slightly lost and devoid of ideas, but not devoid of confidence or energy. Then, when Waumsley came on, that gave us a much-needed boost and we started creating more chances again and looking more likely to get back into the game, something that we eventually did after 74 minutes: the ball fell to Waumsley and he was able to slot the ball under the keeper to score.
This gave us a boost and caused a bit of panic in the Thame United team, so much so that they immediately went into time-wasting mode in an attempt to frustrate us and stifle the game. Ultimately, despite our best efforts, Thame were a little more street-wise and as such were able to weather the storm and hold on for the win.
On the balance of play, a draw would probably have been a fair result, but in reality the match was lost for us within the opening ten minutes. Frustratingly, we once again gave our opposition a two-goal headstart before really getting ourselves into the game. As such, we're giving ourselves far too much to do to get points on the board and making it very easy for our opposition - who have all had more Step 4 experience than us in their squads so far - to stifle us and cruise to victory. It's still very much a learning curve for this squad (the same team as last season other than a couple of additions), but we simply can't afford to keep on making things so easy for the opposition if we want to survive at Step 4. Performances are continuously improving and we played well for most of today's game, but that needs to be matched by more points on the board.
On the whole, mainly because of the result, this wasn't an especially enjoyable groundhop, at least not compared to recent ones. However, I have no real complaints with the club or the ground, so it's certainly not their fault that I didn't enjoy myself as much as usual.
Up next will probably be another trip on the Supporters' Coach next Saturday as Yaxley head to fellow newly-promoted side Welwyn Garden City in what should be a very good chance to get some more points on the board, though my ability to do this depends on getting some money for my birthday. If that doesn't happen, my next groundop will likely be when I'm at University, which would mean a three or three-and-a-half week gap, depending on if I go somewhere on the 22nd or wait until the following Tuesday for Norwich's League Cup game at Wycombe.
The Ground
As another new build - the ground only opened in January 2011 - Meadow View Park is decent but unspectacular, having sufficient facilities for the club's needs but lacking much in the way of character. The only cover at the ground is the 150-seater main stand on the near side, which is an impressive structure but one that is strangely designed: the roof is so high in relation to the seats - which themselves are quite far away from the pitch and quite low so probably don't even provide the best view - that I can't see it really doing anything to protect spectators from the elements when necessary.
As a result of that, and because the rest of the ground is open hard-standing, there isn't any way to avoid the elements when required, which is less than ideal. The record attendance at the ground was 1,382 for its opening game against Oxford United in January 2011.
Photos
Initially, the club spent three seasons in Division 1, finishing in the bottom half in the first two seasons before finishing rock-bottom in the third to be relegated back to Division 2. However, a 3rd-place finish saw the club promoted back to Division 1 at the first attempt, and this time the club fared much better at this level, finishing 4th and 5th in their first two seasons before finishing 11th in the 2001/02 season.
The 2002/03 season saw Division 1 split into North and South, with the club being placed in the North Division. The club finished 8th and 15th in their two seasons in this division, before league reorganisation saw the club transferred into Division 1 West of the Southern League. After finishing 11th in the 2004/05 season, the club was hit by severe financial difficulties, with this resulting in the club's eviction from their Windmill Road ground. As a result, the 2005/06 season saw the club groundshare at Aylesbury United and finish bottom of the league, being relegated back to the Hellenic League.
The summer of 2006 then saw Aylesbury United evicted from their ground, leading Thame to enter a new groundshare agreement with AFC Wallingford. Unsurprisingly, the club finished bottom of the Hellenic League Premier Division and were relegated into Division 1 East. The club spent three seasons at this level before winning the league and earning promotion back to the Premier Division for the 2010/11 season.
The club moved into its current ground in January 2011 and finished 10th in the Premier Division that season. Similar finishes followed for the next few seasons until the club won the title in the 2016/17 season to earn promotion to Division 1 East of the Southern League, the club then finishing 11th in their first season at this level.
In the FA Cup, the club progressed as far as the 4th Qualifying Round in two consecutive seasons: in the 2003/04 season, the club beat Egham Town, VCD Athletic, Thamesmead Town and Bath City before losing to Farnborough Town; in the 2004/05 season, the club beat Norwich United, Gorleston, Enfield Town and Weymouth before losing to Forest Green Rovers. In the FA Trophy, the club progressed as far as the 3rd Round in the 2002/03 season, beating Bromley and Horsham before losing to Windsor & Eton. As for the FA Vase, the club reached the Semi-Finals in the 1998/99 season, beating Bicester Town, Letchworth, Warrington Town, Vauxhall GM and Woodbridge Town before losing over two legs to Bedlington Terriers.
My Visit
With the Yaxley Supporters' Coach making it significantly easier to get to away games this season (at least when I'm not at University and am at home instead), this groundhop was easily decided on and, with the weather being nice all week in the build-up to the game, there were no obstacles in my way to doing this groundhop.
On the day of the game, I left the house just before 11am and walked to the ground to get on the Supporters' Coach, which was slated to leave at half 11. As it turned out though, there weren't many supporters utilising the coach on this occasion, so it was pretty much a players' coach instead. Regardless, we left just after the intended time and made good progress, making a brief stop at Brampton services to pick up a few of the players before continuing.
Progress was smooth until the coach went past Milton Keynes, at which point several roads were closed and forced diversions to be taken, with the coach having to go through Leighton Buzzard (and past the decent-looking ground of Leighton Town on the way) and various other small towns and villages before arriving at the ground around 10 minutes before 2pm. I went to then find the entrance to the ground but, with the turnstiles being closed at this point, I headed into the clubhouse to watch the last 20 or so minutes of Leicester vs Liverpool.
Even after that finished, I didn't then head over to the turnstiles until just over 20 minutes before kick-off, at which point I paid £8 for admission and received a free teamsheet in lieu of a programme (Thame United are one of a growing number of clubs to transition to online-only programmes). I then quickly did my usual circuit of photos before moving behind the near goal at kick-off, then moving behind the far goal for the second half (to match where Yaxley were shooting towards each half).
With the home side being top of the league and unbeaten, and considering our struggles so far this season, I was expecting a tough game but hoping we could get some more points on the board regardless. Here's my report on yet another frustrating result for us, albeit with some improvement on previous games:
Our difficult start to life at Step 4 continues, but the performance was once again an improvement on the previous game.
We made the worst start possible, the defence caught napping after 3 minutes and allowing Thame's Andy Gledhill to score. The situation then worsened 4 minutes later when a simple ball over the top once again set Gledhill through, and he once again had an easy finish. At this point, it seemed like we were in for a thrashing, but despite being utterly shell-shocked by that start, the defence started to shore things up and this gave us a necessary kick up the backside to get us going. Much of the rest of the half was a fairly even game, with both teams creating chances but neither particularly looking like scoring; if either team came closer to scoring in this period, it was us. However, profligate finishing kept the scoreline as it was until half-time.
The half-time break was unfortunate for us, as near the end of the first half we had really started to build some momentum and were starting to dominate the game. Once we came back for the second half, however, we made a slow start again and, until Tom Waumsley came on just after the hour mark, we looked slightly lost and devoid of ideas, but not devoid of confidence or energy. Then, when Waumsley came on, that gave us a much-needed boost and we started creating more chances again and looking more likely to get back into the game, something that we eventually did after 74 minutes: the ball fell to Waumsley and he was able to slot the ball under the keeper to score.
This gave us a boost and caused a bit of panic in the Thame United team, so much so that they immediately went into time-wasting mode in an attempt to frustrate us and stifle the game. Ultimately, despite our best efforts, Thame were a little more street-wise and as such were able to weather the storm and hold on for the win.
On the balance of play, a draw would probably have been a fair result, but in reality the match was lost for us within the opening ten minutes. Frustratingly, we once again gave our opposition a two-goal headstart before really getting ourselves into the game. As such, we're giving ourselves far too much to do to get points on the board and making it very easy for our opposition - who have all had more Step 4 experience than us in their squads so far - to stifle us and cruise to victory. It's still very much a learning curve for this squad (the same team as last season other than a couple of additions), but we simply can't afford to keep on making things so easy for the opposition if we want to survive at Step 4. Performances are continuously improving and we played well for most of today's game, but that needs to be matched by more points on the board.
On the whole, mainly because of the result, this wasn't an especially enjoyable groundhop, at least not compared to recent ones. However, I have no real complaints with the club or the ground, so it's certainly not their fault that I didn't enjoy myself as much as usual.
Up next will probably be another trip on the Supporters' Coach next Saturday as Yaxley head to fellow newly-promoted side Welwyn Garden City in what should be a very good chance to get some more points on the board, though my ability to do this depends on getting some money for my birthday. If that doesn't happen, my next groundop will likely be when I'm at University, which would mean a three or three-and-a-half week gap, depending on if I go somewhere on the 22nd or wait until the following Tuesday for Norwich's League Cup game at Wycombe.
The Ground
As another new build - the ground only opened in January 2011 - Meadow View Park is decent but unspectacular, having sufficient facilities for the club's needs but lacking much in the way of character. The only cover at the ground is the 150-seater main stand on the near side, which is an impressive structure but one that is strangely designed: the roof is so high in relation to the seats - which themselves are quite far away from the pitch and quite low so probably don't even provide the best view - that I can't see it really doing anything to protect spectators from the elements when necessary.
As a result of that, and because the rest of the ground is open hard-standing, there isn't any way to avoid the elements when required, which is less than ideal. The record attendance at the ground was 1,382 for its opening game against Oxford United in January 2011.
Photos
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