Bedfont - The Orchard

Bedfont FC

The Orchard

Hatton Road

Bedfont

Middlesex

TW14 9QT

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Ground: 96

Date: Saturday 9th November 2019

Bedfont & Feltham 0-3 Jersey Bulls

Combined Counties League Division 1
Attendance: 78 (official)

Bedfont - History

Bedfont were founded in 2012 when Bedfont FC and Feltham FC merged to form Bedfont & Feltham, with the new club taking Feltham's place in Division 1 of the Combined Counties League. However, the club were forced to play their first season as Feltham due to their entry into the 2012/13 FA Vase under that name. The club then changed to the new name for the 2013/14 season.

The first two seasons under the new name saw the club finish 5th in the league, before they finished as runners-up in the 2015/16 season to earn promotion to the Premier Division. The club struggled upon promotion and finished second-from-bottom, immediately being relegated back to Division 1. The first season back in Division 1 was also a struggle, as the club finished third-from-bottom. However, last season saw the club once again finish 5th, albeit after having been in the top 2 for much of the campaign (and beginning to slip away after I saw them get thrashed 5-1 at Frimley Green). In May 2022, the club announced that they would be reverting to the name Bedfont FC.

In the FA Cup, the club have twice progressed to the 1st Qualifying Round: in the 2014/15 season, they beat Wellingborough Town and Leighton Town before losing to Uxbridge; in the 2015/16 season, they beat London Tigers and AFC Hayes before losing to AFC Rushden & Diamonds. As for the FA Vase, the club's best run came this season as they reached the 2nd Round, beating Lutterworth Athletic, Bedford and Colliers Wood United before losing to Welling Town.

My Visit

At the start of the season, one of the groundhopping aims I set myself was to see Jersey Bulls in action at least once, given that they would presumably follow in Guernsey's footsteps and fly through Step 6 unchallenged. At the same time, I had been keen to visit Bedfont & Feltham for a while, partially because they seem to be one of few clubs who go to the extra effort to welcome groundhoppers, but also due to the ground's proximity to Heathrow Airport and how low planes fly over because of that (I was very keen to experience that and maybe get a few photos here and there). As such, when I first saw this fixture, I added it to the schedule immediately.

However, as my regular readers will know, things haven't exactly gone to plan in recent weeks and, after heading into London last weekend (and for the second week running), I didn't think I'd be able to afford doing so for a third week running, meaning I reluctantly cut this match from my schedule. This meant that my new plans for Jersey and Bedfont were to see Jersey at Fleet Spurs at the end of February and then head to Bedfont the following Saturday for their match against Eversley & California.

But things changed again on Tuesday night when the club announced that this match would be a 1pm kick-off, meaning that there was a potential double opportunity with Bedfont Sports (though I'll talk more about what happened with that in the CB Hounslow entry later today). This was enough to sway me to head into London again, especially as it turned out I could just about afford to do so.

On Friday, I made all my plans for both matches of my first groundhopping double and ordered my train tickets into London, all while keeping an eye on the weather and hoping it wouldn't take a turn for the worse. Yesterday morning, rain was forecast for mid-to-late afternoon, but I didn't think it would affect either match going ahead. Still, I picked up my umbrella along with all my winter wear before I headed off to the train station at around 10am.

Upon arriving at the station and collecting my tickets, I was worried about a repeat of last week, when issues on the railway denied me the opportunity to do a groundhopping double. Thankfully, there were no real issues and I was able to get onto a train at the time I had hoped for, though it was extremely crowded due to the previous train being delayed. Regardless, after departing at around 10:40am, the train arrived into Waterloo around 35 minutes later and I quickly got onto the Underground, making my way over to Hatton Cross after changing at Green Park to get onto the Piccadilly Line.

I arrived at Hatton Cross station at around 12:15pm and started the short walk towards the ground. On the way there, I immediately began to see the planes flying over, with one flying over so low that I could actually see the landing gear being retracted (naturally, the noise of plans flying over that low was absolutely deafening). Regardless, I arrived at the ground ten minutes later and then spent a further ten minutes trying to figure out where the boardroom was. Upon my arrival, I also noticed a Tweet suggesting that kick-off could be delayed due to Jersey's late arrival, but thankfully this did not transpire (otherwise the double would not have been possible at all).

After eventually finding the boardroom, I received a warm welcome from Bedfont & Feltham's programme editor and media manager Rob Healy, receiving a cup of tea, a programme and a couple of pin badges for free. I then spent the rest of the build-up to kick-off in here talking to Rob (not least because it started raining outside not long after I got in), learning about his involvement with the various incarnations of Feltham FC and discussing our respective roles as programme editors. Just before kick-off, he was kind enough to let me through the turnstiles for free as well.

Because I had stayed inside all the way through to just before kick-off, I had to wait until half-time to do my circuit of photos, most of which have come out worse than I would like due to the rain and due to my continuing difficulties in figuring out how to hold my umbrella and take photos with my camera at the same time. In both halves, I sat in the larger of the two seated stands among a group of older groundhoppers, one of whom suggested I should purchase a stopwatch to help with timekeeping (which is most certainly an idea I'll be considering).

 Not entirely sure why the form guide didn't display properly, but I know for a fact that Jersey had won their previous five, as they've won all their competitive games this season.

Considering that Jersey Bulls were already running away with the league, only one outcome seemed likely here, with it simply seeming like a manner of how many goals they could win by. Still, I was sure that Bedfont & Feltham would give it a good go rather than simply sitting down and accepting defeat against the champions-elect.

 Jersey's teamsheet had the right player names on it but the numbers were all wrong, which was less than helpful in trying to write up my match report.

Here's my report on a match in which Bedfont & Feltham made Jersey Bulls work hard for the victory in testing conditions:

With the rain beginning to come down in the build-up to kick off (which was delayed by five minutes), both teams struggled to adapt to the slippery conditions in the first half. This meant that the ball mostly remained in the midfield as the two defences largely nullified the opposing attackers; in the first half, the general pattern was that Jersey had the better of the play but weren't able to produce much in front of goal, while Bedfont had the better chances (from the few that there were). The best chances both came from defensive mistakes: in the 32nd minute, Bedfont's Kelvin Karanja pounced on a poor first touch and crossed into the box to Michael Capon, who couldn't connect and score; then, in the 39th minute, a Bedfont defender miscued a clearance and this set Jersey's Harry Cardwell through one-on-one, his shot then hitting the post.

After an inexplicable twenty minute half-time break, Jersey came out of the blocks with intent and scored two in two minutes: in the 51st minute, Cardwell tapped in at the far post after a cross from the left wing; two minutes later, Jersey earned a penalty and Karl Hinds calmly converted to double his side's lead. At this point, it seemed like it would be a matter of how many Jersey would score, but Bedfont regrouped and defended valiantly against an onslaught of attacks, occasionally countering with intent as well. However, the away side finished the job in the 81st minute when Jack Griffin received a pass in the box and was able to turn and shoot to score. A few more chances came for Jersey after this, but there were no more goals to come.

Planes were flying over more or less every minute, sometimes even lower than this example. However, this was the best photo I could manage in the wet and cloudy conditions.

On the whole, as with Hashtag last Saturday, I expected slightly more from Jersey in all honesty. I would describe them as a good side, certainly, but their performance here is most aptly described as an efficient one than as a truly dominant one. Some credit for that must go to Bedfont & Feltham for being resilient throughout much of the match while also being willing to attack when they had the chances. Other than that, the conditions were undeniably a factor, as the pitch seemed very slippery while also being very bobbly.

This was an enjoyable first leg for my first ever groundhopping double, with the match providing a decent amount of entertainment alongside a very friendly welcome from Bedfont & Feltham's Rob Healy. The planes flying overheard also provided another interesting element to the overall experience, even if the noise was somewhat distracting at times. Also, my match report is notably shorter than usual, which I will admit is a slight consequence of doing a double for the first time (partially because I remembered less than normal but also because by the time I got home I was too tired to go into my usual level of details); I'll discuss this in more detail in the entry on part 2 of the double, where this is more pronounced.

With the match looking likely to finish much later than I had hoped, I had a quick Twitter conversation with fellow groundhopper The Terrace Traveller and asked him for a lift to the next game at CB Hounslow United, which he was kind enough to oblige with. We met up in the ground with a few minutes of normal time remaining, having a quick introductory chat before moving towards the exit to allow us to quickly leave and reach the next match as soon as possible. This saw us leave just before 3pm, and I'll run through the rest in the Hounslow entry when that goes up later today.

The Ground

The Orchard is a good ground for Step 6, with an interesting range of football furniture providing cover of some sort on all four sides. There are two seated stands on either side of the ground, with the smaller of the two being behind the dugouts and providing seats for around 50 people. Directly across from this is a larger seated stand which contains seating for around 100 people.

Behind the near goal is a couple of small covered areas overhanging two benches, with some space to stand in front of these if you so choose. Behind the far goal is two larger areas of covered standing which provide cover for a further 150 or so people. Other than that, the rest of the ground is open hard standing, with plenty of room for expansion if it is ever required.

The ground has an official capacity of 1,200 and is also shared by fellow Combined Counties League Division 1 side British Airways.

Photos

Sporting Bengal United - Mile End Stadium

Sporting Bengal United FC

Mile End Stadium

Rhodeswell Road

Tower Hamlets

London

R14 7TW

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Ground: 95

Date: Saturday 2nd November 2019

Sporting Bengal United 2-1 Hashtag United

Essex Senior League

Attendance: 101 (official)

Sporting Bengal United - History

Sporting Bengal United were founded in 1996 to increase opportunities for Asian footballers in London. The club initially played in the London Intermediate League, before moving up to the Kent League for the 2003/04 season after being granted senior status (after a tour of Bangladesh and a friendly against the Bangladesh national team). The club finished near the bottom of the Kent League every season, eventually being transferred to the Essex Senior League for the 2011/12 season. This is where the club - who are operated by the Bangladesh Football Association (UK) - have remained ever since, finishing as high as 8th last season and as low as bottom in the 2014/15 season.

In the FA Cup, the club's best run saw them reach the 1st Qualifying Round in the 2016/17 season, beating Ipswich Wanderers and Clapton before losing to Kings Langley. As for the FA Vase, they reached the 3rd Round in the 2011/12 season, beating Hatfield Town, Sawbridgeworth Town, Burnham Ramblers and Mildenhall Town before losing to Bethnal Green United.

My Visit

With the frequency at which I've been changing my plans recently, it's almost not worth finishing this section with my outline of my plans anymore. And yesterday was no exception, as my original plan to head to Reading City or somewhere like that (and to go into London again next weekend) ended up falling by the wayside by Friday.

The reason my plans changed this time was because the opportunity for a double presented itself in London, with Rayners Lane advertising a free friendly against a Brentford XI kicking off at 12pm yesterday. With my plans to go into London next weekend, as well as the knowledge that I wouldn't be able to afford to head into London three weekends running, I spent a day or two seriously considering my options. Eventually, midway through Friday, I opted to head into London again to do my first ever groundhopping double, with my plan being to head to Wembley for my 3pm kick-off.

There were some concerns with the weather going into Saturday, but I wasn't too worried and ordered my train tickets shortly after coming to my decision. I then spent the rest of the afternoon planning out the day, eventually coming to the conclusion that I would have to get a 10am train into London to have any chance of getting to Rayners Lane for kick-off. This meant waking up earlier than usual yesterday morning, and before I departed I made sure to check that Wembley's match would be going ahead, and at the time they answered in the affirmative (though it ended up being postponed, I noticed later).

I got to Guildford station with about ten minutes to spare, picked up my tickets and headed onto the platform. However, it was at this point that news emerged of a tree blocking the line near Witley, which meant that none of the fast trains into London Waterloo would be running for quite some time. This left me in a bind, as it meant that I couldn't get into London in time to have any chance of making kick-off at Rayners Lane (as the only trains into Waterloo were the long ones which take an hour, which would not give me anywhere near enough time to reach Rayners Lane on the Underground).

As a result of this, I had little choice but to head back to the house for a rethink. For starters, I double-checked the games at both Wembley and North Greenford United and, seeing that they were still on at that point (though neither ended up going ahead), I double-checked the Tube timings so I could plan how much time to give myself in getting into London (after not leaving anywhere near enough last week). This then highlighted the fact that the Tube wasn't running to either of those grounds (at least, not on routes I could use) due to leaves on the line, which left me even more stuck.

This forced me to check the Groundhopper app for any other matches in London, ideally ones which were a quick walk from the nearest Tube station. In doing this, I found three options: this, Cockfosters and Newbury Forest (who groundshare at Redbridge). First, I checked the Twitter feeds for any news of pitch issues, finding that Sporting Bengal and Hashtag seemed confident of the match going ahead, that Cockfosters hadn't updated all morning again (though they did later confirm that they had no pitch issues, in fairness to them) and that there was a pitch inspection at Newbury Forest.

With that in mind, I checked the Tube timings and started to plan things out relative to my train into Waterloo, at which point news emerged of a postponement at Newbury Forest. At this point, I had Sporting Bengal down as first choice due to my curiosity about Hashtag United, and eventually set off with that in mind (and with Cockfosters as back-up if needed). Upon getting to Guildford station for a second time, I got on the 12:28pm into Waterloo (the same train as last week, I believe), only for that to be cancelled at the last minute. This meant I ended up on the 12:34pm instead, which set off after a couple of minutes delay.

Eventually, after all was said and done, I was in Waterloo just over an hour later and, after quickly stopping off for a toilet break, I headed down to the Underground and made quick progress towards Mile End (and, thanks to much-improved planning on my part, I had much more leeway than I gave myself last week).

Upon leaving Mile End Tube station, I noticed a sign warning people to be careful with having their phones out, so I decided to play it safe and tried to find my way to the ground without Google Maps. This meant that a 10-minute walk took almost twice as long as I got lost once or twice and ended up at the completely wrong entrance once I did find the ground, having to walk all the way round to find the football entrance to the ground.

This all meant that I arrived at the ground at around 2:30pm, which was later than expected but still significantly better than arriving five minutes before kick-off like last week. I paid £6 for admission and £1.50 for the 8-page programme before heading out to take some photos. Normally, I do a full circuit, but there wasn't much to see at this ground besides the stand so I only walked a little further along that side, and only to get a photo of the stand from a different angle. I then took a seat in the main stand as I waited for kick-off, making sure to sit a few rows back just in case the rain came into the stand.

Looking at the table and the recent form of both sides, only one outcome seemed likely here, though it seemed likely that there would be a lot of goals whatever happened. However, with my luck on that front of late, I was careful not to get my hopes too high.

Had to show Hashtag's team sheet separately due to their decision to use squad numbers rather than 1-11 like everyone else at this level

Here's my report on a match which saw the form book flipped on its head, as Sporting Bengal United deservedly triumphed over the disappointing league leaders:

Hashtag almost took the lead after just four minutes when a low free kick from the left wing was aimed towards goal and nearly poked in, though they were denied by both Sporting Bengal keeper Bilal Khan and the linesman's flag. After this, the opening 25 minutes of this match were quiet and uneventful, with just one other chance of note: in the 19th minute, Hashtag played a low cross into the box from the left wing, with Joshua Osude's goalbound effort pushed wide for a corner by Khan. The away side then came close again in the 27th minute through Jesse Waller-Lassen's driven shot from 25 yards, but Khan was there to make the save again.

Despite Hashtag having all the early chances, it was Sporting Bengal who were having the better of the overall play and they deservedly took the lead in the 28th minute: after one cross from the right was blocked, Chaka Barnett picked up the loose ball and crossed from the byline for Bobby Redwood to tap in. Two minutes later, the home side's lead was doubled as they caught Hashtag cold, Chaka Barnett again causing chaos on the right wing and crossing for Steven Carvell, who powered his effort past Louis Hawes in the Hashtag goal. As I was making note of and subsequently posting on Twitter about these two goals, Hashtag went up the other end and, after something happened in the box, they earned an indirect free kick. They attempted to capitalise, but the home defence held firm and blocked the shot. Both sides had chances after this, but it remained 2-0 going into half-time.

After a torrential downpour during the interval, the second half took a long time to get going, with very little happening for much of the half. The main reason for this is that Hashtag were continuing to be thoroughly ineffective when attacking, while at the same time they looked much more solid defensively and were comfortably holding Sporting Bengal's attackers at arm's length. This deadlock continued until the away side earned a free kick from 25 yards out in the 74th minute. Ross Gleed stepped up to take and his low shot caught everyone off-guard and flew into the net.

This was the spark the match needed to come back to life, as well as the spark Hashtag needed to drastically up the intensity in pursuit of an equaliser (and probably a winner as well, if they had equalised). This saw them almost gain complete control of the match, having all of the ball and pinning the home side into their own half. The away side created at least a dozen chances in this period, but it seemed like they wouldn't be able to find the finish. However, in the 88th minute, Hashtag should have equalised but were somehow kept out: a corner was played into the box and led to a frantic goalmouth scramble (I would have to watch it again (and I will be when Hashtag release their match video) to properly explain what happened) before play was stopped due to a facial injury to Khan. This held up play for five minutes and, when the match started up again, Gleed almost scored from another long-range free kick, only to be denied by Khan (who anticipated the low shot this time). The home side were then able to hold out for the victory.

Overall, much of the day was an absolute nightmare due to transport issues, terrible weather and the fact that I was denied the chance to do a groundhopping double for the first time, but the match made for a decent afternoon's entertainment, even if it was somewhat inconsistent: there were notable periods of drama and excitement, but also large stretches in which next-to-nothing happened and my patience was tested. Still, it was a decent day out at a welcoming club and, despite a crowd below 100, there was a good atmosphere throughout from both sets of supporters.

Unlike the journey into Waterloo, the journey out was simple enough, though I did get lucky with how things worked out: the match didn't finish until just after 5pm, yet I was able to get back to Waterloo quickly enough to just get onto the 5:30pm quick train back into Guildford, meaning I was back in the house at 6:30pm, which was another drastic improvement on last week (when I didn't get back in until 8pm).

As regular readers can tell now, my upcoming plans are very, very tenuous, but after this groundhop I cannot afford heading into London for a third week running, so my planned visit to Bedfont & Feltham will be delayed for now. Instead, my first choice is a visit to Bicester United, though I an equally likely to end up at somewhere like Molesey or Colliers Wood United. My plans for the 16th (just after I get more money again) haven't changed yet, though after missing out on a double yesterday I am now debating whether to head to Dulwich Hamlet on the 19th: I'm less keen on midweek groundhops when relying on public transport, but it's also a question of whether that's affordable in the build-up to Christmas. I'd imagine it won't be, but we'll see how things pan out on that front.

The Ground

Normally, I'm less bothered by athletics grounds than the average groundhopper (as my entry about Grantham Town's excellent ground can attest to), but I find myself hard-pressed to say much about the Mile End Stadium. The only cover at the ground is the large main stand, which provides bench seating for 439 people. 

Other than this, the only other feature of the ground is a few steps of uncovered terracing beyond the main stand. That aside, the rest of the ground is open hard standing, and everything was very far away from the pitch (even more so than other athletics grounds I've visited for football, it felt like). The elevation of the main stand does at least offset that issue somewhat, however.

The ground has an overall capacity of 2,000 and was, at the time of writing this article, equally shared by both Tower Hamlets and Sporting Bengal United. However, with the release of the 2020/21 league constitutions on 21st July 2020, it was announced that Tower Hamlets had moved into a groundshare with Phoenix Sports, making Sporting Bengal United the current sole tenants at the ground.

Photos