12 minutes of fame with Ollie Bayliss
I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Ollie Bayliss on BBC Three Counties Radio’s Non-League Show last Saturday. It was a great chance to tell the
world (well, people from Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire) about the book, From Hashtag United to Wembley. Ollie is a great follower of all things non-League and made the interview easy for me. Of course, having seen four games in those counties on my FA Trophy trail last season and having followed Cheshunt up to Stockport County, there was plenty to talk about.
Things I didn’t mention
Of course, I missed an opportunity to mention that I saw Newport Pagnell Town win the FA Vase on Non-League Finals day in May. I did manage to conceal the fact that I saw Wycombe Wanderers lose to Sunderland in the League One play-off final on the previous day. The recording is available for another four weeks if you want to listen. Ollie interviews me after the news at around the 1 hour and 3 minutes mark. Here’s the link. A big thank you to Ollie Bayliss for showing an interest in Twitter’s @fatrophyhound and From Hashtag United to Wembley.
Who won the Battle of Hastings?
In the last round of the FA Trophy, I saw Burgess Hill scrape past Hanworth Villa with a 2-1 win. The reward for the Hillians was an all-Sussex tie away to Hastings United. At 6 o’clock on Saturday evening, I googled to find the score. I was surprised to discover that Burgess Hill had defeated their superior opposition from Hastings 2-1. That is until I looked at Monday’s draw for the 2nd Round Proper and noticed Hastings United have a home tie with Chippenham Town. I either misread the score, or there was an error online. Hastings United, in fact, ran out 4-2 winners. It reminded me of my younger days when the Grandstand teleprinter used to put up another defeat for Charlton, the team I supported ardently as a youngster. I used to pray it was an error, as there was a corrected result most weeks. However, when Charlton’s score was updated one week, it changed from a 2-0 defeat to a 4-0 loss.
Virtual Wembley trail 2022/23 – Part 1
Runcorn Linnets got off to a bad start at the APEC Taxis Stadium, when they gifted their visitors, Belper Town, an early goal. After taking the lead, Belper equalised, but Ryan Brooke bundled home a winner to make it 3-2 to Runcorn Linnets. It’s the first time the Linnets have reached the Second Round Proper of the FA Trophy. They next travel to the North East to face Spennymoor Town. Get the taxis ready, APEC. Let’s hope they fare well.
Virtual Wembley trail 2022/23 – Part 2
In the Southern game of my Wembley trail, Harrow Borough won a feisty derby game against Hayes & Yeading to end the FA Trophy hopes of the side with an ampersand. Does anyone like teams with ampersands? A goal in each half, one by George Moore and the other by Montel Brown, secured the win, which means they will face supersonic opponents, Concord Rangers.
Clean pair of heels
A last-minute penalty secured the points in a 1-0 win for East Thurrock United against Witham Town in the all-Essex derby. However, it was only a single-goal win, so they didn’t take Witham to the cleaners. The scorer did not come from Italy; his name was Roman Michael-Percil. Well done, Sir.
Junk mail
Two bits of junk mail arrived this week. The first asked the question, “Are you Fat?”. It was significant the ‘F’ of ‘Fat’ was uppercase (spellcheck wanted to change that to fatwas!). As Fat Rophy, it seemed appropriate to reply in the affirmative. It seems that for $99, Fat Rophy can cease to be ‘lethargic, lazy and irritable’. I am not sure there is any desire to stop being lethargic, lazy and irritable at my age. The other wasn’t really junk mail at all, to be honest. A kind reader of this review wrote: “Your review is always interesting, funny and a good read. I’m anticipating your bumper 50th issue in November”. Sorry, Joe, there will be no bumper issue. Time for that taxi to Spennymoor.
