Trams Crash

The Combined Counties League has had rather more publicity than usual this close season due to the innovative election of Guernsey to its ranks and also bucked the trend by starting their league programme a week earlier than the norm. The Channel Islanders are starting in Division One and are expected to progress to the Premier Division where, having seen a couple of good contests last season, I opted to take another look having no interest in pre season friendlies which I am sure carry much weight for coaching staff but denuded of the context of competition have little relevance for a layman like myself. So I left home and crossed the road into Hounslow where I traversed to the other the side of the borough to watch Hanworth Villa take on Croydon.

Hanworth was a West London suburb unknown to me until it became part of my route to see the Magpies play at Hampton and its sleepy nature was reflected by the Rectory Meadow ground being tucked away behind the Village Hall.

Free viewing/entry was seemingly available from the adjacent park but paying £5 not only gave you access to a neat well manicured ground but also provided the opportunity to purchase an excellent programme for a further pound.

Both clubs seem to have gone far in recent years, although in opposite directions. Hanworth are looking forward to their first FA Cup tie later this month, a five year target met by turning a park pitch into an enclosed ground. Two dugouts are the only construction on 3 sides with a woodland path behind one goal. On the clubhouse side there is a 100 seat portable stand (containing turnstiles which I'm sure are soon to be installed) and a small covered metal terrace. There is also a well populated beer garden between the clubhouse and the pitch.

Croydon on the other hand are a club in decline. My initial memory is of an ambitious outfit duking it out with Maidenhead for promotion to the Isthmian League Premier Division. Their nickname was taken from the new Tram system in the borough and the Surrey club seemed to have big spending plans of their own, snapping up Magpie star striker Chuk Agudosi after he sensationally walked out of York Road on the eve of the 1999 County Cup Final. However despite beating United to the Isthmian League Division One title in 2000 the Trams soon went into sharp decline which was hardly surprising given their woeful support.

Indeed the Trams only retained their current status due to an AGM cup reprieve the full details of which I read about prior to kick off in the programme to a soundtrack of the drone of the dual carriageway in the absence of a PA.

The editor quite rightly lamented the way the new Windsor club were given a place in the Premier Division pushing Bookham out. With Villa finishing strongly they must be worried by the threat that their hard work over many years in building a club ready for Senior football might be thwarted by the Royalists who have a reported budget which would make one or two Blue Square Bet South clubs a little envious. Furthermore the protestations in the media that this is a new club ring hollow when they have the same management team and many of the same players that won promotion to the Southern League Premier Division two years ago.

However if Hanworth can show the same purpose and vigour apparent in their opening day display they shouldn't have much to worry about. 

The game began with a contrasting clash of styles, the Villains opting for an up tempo direct approach whilst Croydon adopted a measured passing game. Villa's pressure paid off as early as the seventh minute when Ricky Harden capitalised on a defensive lapse to score from close range.

Croydon continued to sit too deep with early substitute Duane Antonio being a real thorn in their left flank. Lawrie Shennan then scored twice in a minute to put the result beyond doubt midway through the first half.
Although looking likely to be routed at this point Croydon worked hard to get back into the game after the break but a fourth goal in the 63rd minute by Antonio off the post after the keeper failed to collect a cross confirmed the Middlesex club as early season pace setters.


Post Script:
The Maidenhead Advertiser report of Windsor's opening game against South Park gave rise to another blast from the past with former Croydon Keeper James Wastell denying ex Magpie favourite Ryan Ashe a late winner.

Fall of the House of Windsor

The Dressing Room after the 2001 win

Finally wound up in the high court on February 2nd, Windsor were naturally one of the Magpies greatest rivals although attempts by the local media to whip up some passion along the lines of "Battle of the Borough" never really took off.  There was little animosity between either club, apart from the understandable frustrations when Dennis Greene moved from Stag Meadow to York Road and proceeded to take many Royalist personnel with him.

Stag Meadow itself was a pleasant enough ground, backing onto Windsor Great Park, although the proximity of the tea bar with its oily smells to the clubhouse meant I preferred to drink in the pub opposite.  The supporters were full of the usual characters, the sandal wearing "Jesus" giving an added edge to a winter game with the hope that he would stick to his open toed footwear in the snow, whilst there was always a vociferous minority to lend some atmosphere although at one point in the mid 90s the young ultras gave cause for a wry smile as they chanted for reasons I forget "We hate Tories" at the Maidenhead fans whilst standing in front of a sign saying "Support the Royalists".

Older generations of United supporters tended to regard Windsor as little more than a village team as post war the big local derbies were always against Wycombe and Slough.  My lifetime coincided with Windsor's best spell though and during the 80s they were very much the senior team in the borough, at one stage being two levels ahead of United, as the Royalists enjoyed a spell in the Isthmian Premier Division whilst the Magpies tumbled down to Division Two South and an embarrassing league derby with Flackwell Heath.  Indeed I can recall striker Mickey Creighton, who played for both clubs recounting the time when he was part of the Windsor squad which took Bournemouth to an FA Cup 2nd round replay with a home tie against Manchester United awaiting the victors.  Harry Redknapp's Cherries won the rematch 2-0 at Dean Court and of course famously beat the Cup holders by the same score in round three.

Thus it was quite exciting when promotion for Maidenhead and relegation for Windsor brought the clubs together in Isthmian Division One and rare Boxing Day clash at York Road.  I can still remember the crisp morning kick off in front of a sparse but passionate crowd.  The Magpies ran out comfortable 4-1 winners.  My chief memory of the game though is Mark Franks consolation goal, which he celebrated with such vigour with the Royalist fans that he was booked!

The reverse fixture was one of those disappointing Magpie flops which sadly continue to this day.  Windsor managed by ex Maidenhead manager John Clements won a dreadful game 1-0 despite having spent two thirds of the game with ten men after one of their defenders opted to punctuate the silence by insulting the linesman in the vilest way possible. These three points were not enough to save Windsor from relegation so the rest of the clubs' meetings up to Windsor's recent demise came in Cup competitions, chiefly the County Cup, and annual friendlies.

The first of these clashes was in 1996 when goals from Paul Dadson and Garry Attrell at Stag Meadow gave United a comfortable victory and set up a semi final tie at home to Aylesbury United, the fall from which I'm still in therapy for, but that's another story.  The real talking point from the Windsor game came a few weeks previously when the match was scheduled only for snow to fall ahead of kick off.  I sat with other supporters in the Queens Arms (now Noctors) awaiting news of the inevitable postponement with only Roy Bannister's tale of getting his house fitted with new carpets for entertainment.  When the game was called off the night was in full swing to the extent that proceedings moved to the Anchor although we were in too much of a stupor  to remember the main TV event that evening when Jarvis Cocker waved his arse at Michael Jackson.

Two years later Windsor again provided the quarter final opposition although they seemed to have upped their budget as one Maidenhead fan solemnly told me that Ted Danson and Greg Norman would be lining up for the Royalists at Stag Meadow.  With Maidenhead riding high in the league another easy win was in order but Windsor were the better team for most of the game and with seconds of extra time left were leading 2-1, only for Chuk Agudosi to pop up and score a scarcely deserved equaliser.  The replay (remember them) went to form with a Garry Attrell hat trick leading United to a 4-1 victory and putting them on track to win the County Cup for the first time in a generation.

Cup holders Maidenhead were to again travel to Stag Meadow twelve months later, this time at the semi final stage.  Again underdogs Windsor looked to be on course for an upset until the game turned on a nasty incident when a racial insult was made by a Maidenhead player to one of his opponents.  This sparked an inevitable fracas which led to Windsor losing the initiative they had created, United rather shamefully going onto win the tie 3-1 and eventually retain the Cup.

The next semi final clash came two years later, this time at York Road with the Magpies now promoted to the Isthmian Premier Division.  As usual Windsor weren't intimidated by the higher tier opposition and at times outclassed the Magpies.  This was a breathtaking tie with the game flowing at great speed from end to end. With Windsor losing their nerve in front of goal, Matt Glynn gave the Magpies the lead with a spectacular effort.  A Dennis Greene penalty seemed to have given the Royalists an extra thirty minutes to claim the game only for Lee Channell  to sneak a winner in injury time.

FA Cup celebrations

Perhaps emboldened by a string of near misses, ahead of the next semi final meeting, at Stag Meadow in 2003, Greene, by now Windsor manager made a number of ill advised predictions in the local press about the final score.  With the team talk ready made, Alan Devonshire's made short work of the tie, a Lawrence Yaku hat trick building a 5-0 win with a performance so dominant that reduced Windsor captain Dave Carroll to respond to the taunting Magpies by petulantly slamming a free kick into the wall.  Once again Maidenhead went onto win the Cup in what was to be Alan Devonshire's last game as manager, ending his reign with a near perfect record against the men down the A308.

Devonshire's successors were unable to match his County Cup collection but at least kept the Royalists in check.  John Dreyer won a tight FA Cup tie 2-1 in October 2004 in a fiery derby which saw eleven bookings.  Future Crawley hero Jamie Cook gave United the lead from the spot, but a spectacular second from the winger was chalked off as it was from a drop ball, Cook being cautioned for ungentlemanly conduct.   With Windsor then going down to ten men, a Barrie Matthews goal seemed to seal the win but the goal of the game from Peter Holsgrove led to a nailbiting finish.

Ironically following Dennis Greene's move from Stag Meadow to York Road, the clubs didn't meet during his time as United manager.  Carl Taylor was in charge when the team renewed County Cup hostilities in the autumn of 2005 and in the worst season of my Magpie watching the game provided a rare bright spot.  Windsor contested the game well taking an early lead and pulling the score back to 2-2 just after half time, however the Magpies were just too strong with Stephen Hughes, a Lee Newman brace and the goal of the game from Northampton star Abdul Osman easing United to a 4-2 victory which had a farcical coda when the verbose Taylor was sent from the dugout in the dying minutes.

The following season Johnson Hippolyte had moved into the hot seat and comfortably completed his Royalist rite of passage with a 2-1 win at Stag Meadow with even a weakened team, containing a central midfield pairing with a combined age of 80, being too much for Windsor.

With such a long run of victories, even the most die hard of Windsor fans must have despaired of ever beating the Magpies so its perhaps fitting that the last meeting saw Windsor beat the bogey to win the 2009 County Cup semi-final 1-0.  For a change it was Maidenhead who squandered a golden opportunity to win when Bobby Behzadi missed a late penalty, with Windsor seizing the day with a winning goal from Adam Wallace.

So Windsor had the last laugh as the record books will show they hold the honour of local pride until such time as a reformed team can rise far enough up the pyramid to take on the Magpies in competitive mode once more.