Sunday League Struggles

As many of you know, I attend a Sunday League game every week these days, covering them for A City United. Today I took in Broadley FC v Plough Sturton, although I also had one eye of Railway Inn v Trent Valley. Both were good games, the standard of Sunday League isn’t as bad as you’d think.

This is the first in a series of articles this week promoting the magazine which covers both Lincoln City, Lincoln United and a whole host of football within the city. The Lincoln Sunday League branches out into the villages too, and we cover the whole spectrum of teams from Saxilby to Horncastle, from Coningsby to Newton.

So far this season I’ve watched around ten games, often keeping track of two matches on pitches side by side at the same time. The level of commitment, passion and application has really impressed me and I thought I’d pen a few words about my experiences. I’ll drop a few pictures in too, hopefully plug the magazine a bit. Sales are good but I need them to be better!

The first thing that has really struck me is the quality on display. You’re not likely to see the flicks of Messi or Ronaldo, but when I set out I thought I’d see loads of thugs kicking lumps out of each other and lots of long ball tactics. That isn’t the case at all, whilst it is a different game to a Saturday at Sincil Bank there is no shortage of excitement. Just today I watched a centre half pull an eighty yard clearance from the opposition out of the air with one touch, killing the ball dead. He might have looked as surprised as everyone, but he shouldn’t have done as his technique was superb. The players turning out on our parks are not bad footballers at all, although it isn’t all brilliant. However, some of it is no worse than I used to watch at City in the 1990’s!

There are five divisions in the Lincoln Sunday League, there’s a Premier Division and then Division One to Four. Premier sides are a bit handy, but in the lower leagues anyone can beat anyone. Much depends on the day, can the driver find Newtoft for instance, or are three of your players at a christening? They’re ‘Sunday League’ problems no doubt, but mustering a full squad and getting minutes into your players is the difference between top and bottom. The Blue Lion lost every game last season, this time out they’ve already won a couple. The players haven’t changed, they’ve just become more organised and focused on the areas they need to improve.

It isn’t just about the players though. I’ve seen managers and assistant managers prowling the touchline, kicking every ball with the side they’re looking after. Often they’re ex-players themselves, some refuse to quit too. Gavin at Saxilby Sports for instance, started this season as a manager having ‘retired’; by game four he was back at centre half. It’s infectious though, I’ve covered a few games and I’m wishing I’d put a bit of effort into playing when I was younger. I wasn’t sure a cold sunday morning at Yarborough Sports centre with wet feet could ever been attractive, yet every week I’m looking forward to watching different sides. I’m actually annoyed come 5pm because I look down the results to see how sides have done, frustrated I can’t see all the games. How I’d love to catch up with Wragby this week to see if they can build on their win against Jerusalem last week, or have a trip to Newtoft, a side I used to hear from my bedroom window every other Sunday for almost a decade, but only now want to go and watch. I couldn’t be bothered with ever getting Sky Sports, Liverpool and Man Utd doesn’t interest me, but if I could the Welton derby for an hour before my tea I would.

I respect their dedication and I enjoy the entertainment they serve up. This is proper football, free to watch and taking place on a pitch near you most Sundays

I’ve been asked who the best side I’ve seen this season are, currently it has to be Golden Eagle. Sometimes a player stands out from the rest and in Jack Higginson the Eagle have a young man whom I’m sure could play at a decent non-league standard with the right coaching. They’re well-drilled, vocal from start to finish but in the right manner. Some of the sides I’ve seen are constantly berating each other, gobbing off at the referee or at their team mates, but the Eagle had a real culture of supporting each other. I saw them against Lincoln Green (pictured top) another team with the right attitude. They only had ten men (read about it in this months issue) but they stuck to their guns and battled away. They lost 5-0, but in truth it could have been ten but for some great goal keeping and resolute defending.

I’ve seen just one red card and in all the games I’ve witnessed I’ve not seen a really bad challenge, the sort that the amateur game has a reputation for producing. Maybe it is because I haven’t seen Eddie Bruntlett play yet, maybe I’ve just been lucky with my games. As yet I’ve not actually seen a proper ill-tempered game, no flying fists (one head butt, but no fists), nor have I seen a side that wouldn’t shake hands with the opponents afterwards. I’ve seen them call each other every name under the sun, jostle and harry their opponents, battle and fight fairly but as yet I’ve not seen what I would consider to be a team of thugs. I’m not sure there is much place for that in the Sunday game now, I think there is a mutual respect between sides that they’re still willing to journey across the city or county at 9.00am on a Sunday morning just to play football. I respect their dedication and I enjoy the entertainment they serve up. This is proper football, free to watch and taking place on a pitch near you most Sundays. It is what the game is all about and if you’re 16-40 and have a bit about you, I bet there is a side somewhere would love to have you along to training, especially if you’re willing to turn up most weeks and run around like a deranged ferret.

Of course, the game isn’t perfect as much of it relies on individuals either paying or putting themselves out to make sure the matches go ahead. One of the major issues I’ve noticed is, to put it as politely as possible, partisan linesmen. I’m sure they don’t set out to be dishonest, but often subs from either side run the line. I’ve seen some truly shocking offside decisions, some that are not even marginal. The flag goes up very quickly and whilst it isn’t all the time, nor is it every linesman, it is striking how often it decides games. I won’t name the matches as it would be unfair on the various linesmen, but I’ve seen one game poised delicately at 1-0, the side that were losing scored a perfectly good goal which the linesman immediately flagged for. The referee, with no choice as he was unsighted, disallowed the goal on the advice of his assistant. The other side went up an immediately scored, running out comfortable winners. At the end of the game I overheard the manager say ‘the second goal changed it’. He’s right, it did and it shouldn’t have done. I suppose the only comfort is they don’t have cameras at every angle so they can never be sure it was unfair.

I’ve seen another linesman ignore a blatant foul by his own team’s defender in the box, and in the pictures I took you can see him looking at the referee as it happened instead of watching play. Clearly he’d seen the foul and not flagged, instead waiting for the official to call it. These guys are not necessarily being dishonest on purpose, but it is much like asking me to run the line for a Lincoln game. In the heat of the moment I see instances different to neutral observers at Sincil Bank. I screamed for Ibehre to be sent off yesterday, for what? Because a fan threw a ball at him and he made a little movement? Yes, exactly that. He should have walked, I was incandescent with rage. Once I’d calmed down I realised it wasn’t a card offence, but when it is your team it isn’t easy. What choice do the Sunday teams have though? Very few neutrals turn up to games and you must have linesmen. It is just a shame when a side break clear three times as in a recent game I saw, but the opposition assistant manager flags incorrectly every time. It might not be Wembley at stake, but winning means as much to these lads as it does Lincoln City. In that instance the wronged team won with a late goal because the referee ignored the linesman’s fourth raise of the flag, ironically the only one he’d gotten right. I suppose in some twisted way that is the beauty of the Sunday game, it is often about so much more than football. It’s beauty is in it’s imperfection.

I suppose in some twisted way that is the beauty of the Sunday game, it is often about so much more than football. It’s beauty is in it’s imperfection.

It isn’t always the case the linesman give dubious flags. In a recent game the manager of a side refused to flag offside for the team attacking his side. The opponents scored and his own players started yelling abuse at him, yet he correctly kept his flag down. I tried to hang close for his half time team talk, unsurprisingly the player that gave him the most stick found himself running the line in the second half after being brought off!

The other problem I’ve seen too much of is dog mess on the pitches. I’ve seen lads have to scoop it up before a game, I’ve seen a player lose the ball because he wouldn’t run in a pile he’d found down the wing. Today, as I strolled around two pitches trying to get photos for the next issue, a guy called me over. He was a foreign national and in a broken English beckoned me to him. “I got good picture for you mate, I got good picture.” I ventured over and he pointed down at the side of the post. “There is a shit next to the post. Look, that is this game is it not?” I’m sure he meant something along the lines of ‘how Sunday League is that?’ Sadly, thanks to ignorant pet owners it is a common problem. The worst affected areas or pitches surrounded by houses too, Yarborough, Ravendale Drive and Fen Lane. It is a poor show, these pitches are used by kids too.

I know that some Sunday morning’s it is going to be very difficult to motivate myself to get out of bed. This morning it was a bit foggy, the air was damp and my feet were soaked. It wasn’t warm either, despite my insistence before leaving the house that a thin hoodie would be sufficient. What am I going to be like in December when there is frost on the pitch and those piles of dog mess stand out because they’re still steaming from the night before? Or when the rain is so torrential that even the subs sit in the car with the engine running to keep warm? Sure, it will be tough, but the Lincoln Sunday League is packed with people who brave those conditions every week, and enjoy doing so. Very few people cover the games or take photos for players to remember their playing days, the people involved with the game deserve some coverage and the weather won’t stop me from doing so.

Issue Three is out at the moment, in it I cover new teams such as Shakespeare Imps, and we look at the problems that some teams have putting a side out, specifically Lincoln Green and Railway Inn United. In Issue Four coming out at the beginning of November, I visit Wragby to see how the only Sunday League side I ever played for are doing after stepping up two divisions. I’ve got an article on Broadley too, not just the game today but hopefully looking at the reason the club was set up. I’m even going to feature a Sunday League referee (I’ll not mentioned his or her name yet as I don’t know if it needs to be anonymous) and talk about the situations they’ve found themselves in. There’s also our ‘Secret Sunday League Manager’, you’ll be able to read a special article from him later this week on the blog.

If you’re interested in the magazine after reading this then there are several ways to get a copy. www.acityunited.net has a list of the current stockists, or you can buy individual copies here and if you use the code BROADLEYFC just for this week you’ll get free postage on all individual copies. You can also subscribe for a year here: the price does include some postage but it guarantees you a copy in the post.