The Joy of Football - Part 38

Hope you all had a groovy Christmas and are looking forward to a fantastic 2022 both on and off the pitch…. And that Dear Reader is about as happy and cheerful as this blog gets….

 Now for the Hanwell game and where to begin is a tough one. A bad game in which we didn’t seem to trouble their goalie at all. Very sad to hear booing at the end. Many of these players are very young and looked totally crushed when they came up to the fans that stayed behind after hearing the jeers. But the fans pay good money to watch the team. Their weekends can be ruined by bad results just as much as the players and coaches. They have a right to be upset and to question what has happened this season. It upset me to hear the jeers and it upset me to see the players faces, but it also upset me to see the faces of many of our fans as they headed home or to the bar for the after-match discussion. 

 Sky TV are still filming over at Fortress Imperial. I’m sure when they first come into film the team and academy, things were buzzing after the progression of a number of players though the footballing pyramid and the London Senior Cup win. It would have been great to get more media exposure and help raise the profile of the club. At the moment, hopefully they will have lots of positive footage from behind the scenes as there has been very little to look forward to if the match day footage gets shown. It’s bad enough seeing the team lose but to know that it’s being filmed for all to see is sickening. A couple of people involved in the footballing side of things have said that having Sky walking around filming has been a distraction that the players and coaches do not need. It’s also obvious that the Bog End faithful are not happy with the cameras at games. I for one do not blame them. 

Non-League football has become more and more popular, Sky will know that. The chance to stick their nose into a number of places will be too much for them to turn away on their hunt for viewing figures and the chance to fuck up yet another sport…. Bear that in mind if in 5 years’ time our away game with Chipstead is on Pay to View on Thursday night at 9pm. 

 There are splits growing in the ranks of our supporters. The various reasons would fill a blog in on their own, one I may well do. Different groups with different views on how things could or should be done. All of their views valid and worth listening to even if they are not the views you want to hear or agree with. I like to think that I know most of the people who come to see Toots and have heard various views on how the clubs has gone wrong and what the club is doing right. Covid has caused the cancellation of a meet the people who run the club night. A new date needs to be looked into and if possible and able to be done safely as I know a lot of people are concerned about the direction the club is going. Some kind of clear the air meeting should be done to at least try and heal some of the bad feeling at Toots.

 Kingstonian will be ground sharing at Fortress Imperial next season it has been announced. Strange move for them as they were over at Corinthian Casuals and at least were playing games in the Kingston Area. An awkward journey for many of their fans and one that many seem unhappy with. This is meant to be for a couple of years / seasons until they are able to go back to the Kingston. As for Tooting Bec and the various teams they have set up, I should imagine there will be major changes for them. What this will mean for all three clubs remains to be seen but I’m fully expecting various weird and wonderful conspiracy theories.

 Let’s face some facts here. TMUFC have lost two years’ worth of income including gate money due to Covid so in all honesty extra gate money coming in will help out any short falls that have happened over the last couple of seasons. I work in the facilities industry. This involves looking after and managing budgets, invoices and bills. We need to face facts that to run Imperial Fields is very costly. The Electric, gas and water utilities have to be paid. Insurance and rates. The upkeep of the ground and pitches. Ironically the Sky sports subscription to show games in the bar, not forgetting the wages of the staff etc. Plus, the added cost of finding funds for the playing budget all needs to be found. 

I get on with both Steve and Jackie and have no axe to grind or hidden agenda against them or the way the club is run as a business etc. But I believe that supporters should be given some idea of the costs of the day to day running of TMUFC. I'm not suggesting anything untoward, but how was the money collected on the Crowd Funder page put to use at Imperial Fields. A lot of people put money into this and would like a rundown of what the money went towards I would ask for more information from the club and the Members club, who I believe own 10% of Imperial Fields on what goes on behind the scenes and what goes on in general. The social media side has much improved in the last few years, but supporters need more updates. The rumour mill often goes into overdrive when announcement are made. Two and Two becomes Five as people try and find out what is happening. For a start some of the conspiracy theories that often spring up could be put to bed early instead of growing and growing. A lot of the good work that the club does with the local community and local business either goes unnoticed or is not explained allowing Roswell/ JFK type conspiracies to spring up. Recently, the club has had to find a lot of money to upgrade the ground after recommendations and regulations that have come into force since the terrible fire at Grenfell. Plus, the work done on the pitch. Yet this is not common knowledge. If more people knew this, they may well become more understanding when it comes to the costs of running the place. Bills have to be paid and staff have to be paid. My job possibly may give me a better idea of costs and budgets. Not everyone has the same experience. We don't need to know everything and see every single invoice but an idea of what is going on behind the scenes could help people understand more. Might even help stop more of the negative stuff that goes up on various platforms. 

 At this moment in time many people do not know what the Members Club do or their role in the club and what stake they have in the set up at Imperial Fields. There is very little communication between the Directors of the Members Club and the other supporters when it comes to these matters. Directors sit in the stand and are not seen or visible before and after games. It has been good to see Chris Woolley walking around and chatting at resent home games, it would be good to see a bit more of that in future. In short and maybe unfairly, many fans do not know who the Directors of the Club are and what the Members Club do. There needs to be more open dialog between the Members Club and the supporters when it comes to their part in the running of the club and financial matters. Supporters need to be informed of what the Members Club are asked / expected to contribute to the Team / playing budget each season. What other costs the Members Club may also be responsible for during the year. Without this information people do not know where their money is going or what it is being spent on. A regular newsletter given out on match days or regular articles in the programme could go a long way to heal the "Them and Us" feeling that some supporters have in regard to the Members Club. The club over the years lost a number of supporters who were willing to help out but became disillusioned with things at TMUFC. Last of information and bad communication often playing a part in this. 

Christ, how depressing was that…. It must be bad enough having read it if you managed to get this far. Believe me it was hard enough writing the thing. I’ll be there Saturday and I’ll be cheering the team on. None of us are enjoying this. Not the players, fans, coaches, owners or staff. Try to stay positive and cut others some slack if you don’t agree with them. We are stronger together than we are when split up into various factions. 

 Up The Terrors !!!!!

Not coming home.....

Hurrah, Dear Reader. More words of wisdom from Hackbridge Towers as the pre-season friendlies start up again. We will also delve into the magical world of the Euros which I've quite enjoyed this year. Footballs coming home!!!!!!! 

Pre Season starts at Corinthian Casuals

 First up, a friendly on the back pitch was against our tenants Tooting Bec who I must say are really looking better and better and do seem as if they will have yet another good season. An entertaining 0-0 draw which possibly was a fair result as both teams missed good chances and both hit the woodwork on several occasions. I must admit that I spend most of my time at the Pre-season games chatting and gossiping so don't look to me for in-depth views on formations or new players or signing etc (As if you ever did). I just enjoyed the day in the sun. Good to see a few of the others at the game including Mad Ciaran who informed me that he is thinking of moving to Hackbridge and wanted to know the important things about the area like how much is an Uber to and from the Ramble Inn. If he does move to the area it may well put back any ideas of gentrification by around 15 years and have a significant effect on house prices meaning you will be able to pick up a 3 bed house with a garage for about 250 quid... I must add how smart he looked in his bright yellow Ukrainian football shirt which he proudly wore and which I'm sure will get him a bit of cash back from Ebay in a week or so.

                     #FFS

 Talking of which.... Watched the England - Ukraine game in the bar after the Bec match... A good crowd in the bar singing and yelling their heads of as England defied the odds by 

A/ Playing well 

B/ Winning comfortably. 

When it comes to International football I often tell people I have enough Scots and Irish blood not to really care about England and enough English blood not to care about either the Scots or Irish, but I must admit my Anglo Saxon side was very happy after the game which may have had a lot to do with Gareth Southgate’s team selection and a very good England performance.... Or the large amount of Guinness I drank.... Either way a good night out. 

Toots second Pre-Season game was away to Three Bridges on the following Tuesday and ended up a 1-0 defeat on the same night Italy beat Spain to get to the Final on penalties. Of course, to mark the occasion, Toots missed a last-minute penalty and now this run of bad luck, or to be honest, badly taken penalties carries on which is a bit of a worry to us sensitive types on the Bog End. 

I was back to Fortress Imperial on the Wednesday Night to watch the England v Denmark game. Another great night surrounded by rather loud people. What can I say, England proving everyone wrong and getting through to the Final. Since taking on the teachings of Karl Marx and upsetting the Daily Mail the whole England set up has really done well now get ready for Italy in the Final on Sunday. Ant got in early and helped arranged a table so I've no doubt that Sunday night might involve Guinness and singing. 

But before that is the important matter of another Pre-Season game against Frank Wilson's Merstham side, again on the back 3G pitch. A good run out for the team and a 3-1 victory. Yet again I spent most of the match gossiping and chatting to whoever was unlucky enough to stand next to me. I'm looking forward to the start of the season as I think we have a good chance of doing well. Covid took away our chances of making the play offs over the last two seasons. Fingers crossed it will be different this year. 

Did you know England won the World Cup in 1966? Most people don't know this little-known fact as it never ever gets mentioned at all and with this in mind I set off to the bar at Fortress Imperial to watch Gareth’s Groovy Gang take on Italy in the Euro Final to watch Football coming home (Spoiler Alert). It didn't. A fantastic start from England which gave everyone the hope that England may do it was crushed in the 2nd half as Italy equalised and I think deep down we all knew the outcome. Yet another penalty shootout fuck up as Rashford hop, skipped, jumped, farted and passed the ball to the Italian goalie instead of just smashing the fucking thing was the start of the doom and gloom. I feel dreadfully sorry for the young lads who missed who then predictably suffered online abuse from the total bellends that seem to hide behind their phones and computers during England games. Lots of positives from England and it was great to see various communities getting behind the team and coaching staff but still heart breaking yet again to see the trouble afterwards and over the top drunken behaviour which is often the reason why so many other countries love it when England lose. Fucking embarrassing.... I’m feeling really quite down in the dumps as I write this, but at least, I haven’t woken up knowing there’s a photo of me with a smoke bomb sticking out of my bumhole and that I didn’t end up taking off my clothes on Wembley Way while off my face on various nasally ingested chemicals.

“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country,” 

 Anyway, from the Banks of the Mighty Wandle there seems to be a lot of building work going on over at Sutton United's Gangrene Lane ground and the world famous "Shoe Box Terrace" has now been demolished which is a shame. As pointed out by Bog End Regular Mr Chops at least when the Shoe Box was in place all the weirdos used to be together in a small area and therefore easy to keep control of by the clever use of stewarding and cattle prods. Now they will be free to walk around and mix with normal supporters which I bet is one drawback their promotion into the Football League. Still all the work has allowed @bornatotter the chance to work around the ground in a High Vis jacket and a white hard hat / builders helmet looking like one of the Village People. 

Also, got to feel for Peter Crouch a once famous international footballer now so down on his luck he's forced to join the board at Dulwich Hamlet and make TV Documentaries about the club to try and earn enough cash to feed his growing family. With the Euros going on and the Country getting behind the Three Lions, it’s really sad to see an Ex England International footballer hit the depths of despair after the end of his career. I can only hope that things get better for him sooner rather than later and that one day he can hold his head up high again.

Another thing I did learn over the past couple of weeks is that having a photo taken with a crying child can get you a lot of money, if only I'd started doing that a couple of seasons ago with Ant, We would have so much cash behind us we could both be in the space race with Elon Musk or Richard Branson trying to reach Uranus first or be living on a luxury yacht off the coast of Canvey Island, instead I'm spending my days looking out the window and wondering if Mad Ciaran is going to move in next door

Up The Terrors !!!!!

Reg Vardyians

Northwood...... Northwood...... The pain and anguish from our visit there last season is still etched into my feeble minded brain no matter how hard I try to stop thinking about it...... Northwood.... Northwood....
The Horror.... The Horror..... Winning 3-1 with a few minutes to go Toots managed to let in 3 goals and turn a comfortable win into a defeat of biblical proportions. But Dear Reader I'm over it now, I never ever think of that day.... Not once.

 

Now it's there turn to visit Fortress Imperial for our fourth game of the Victor Meldrew South Central campaign. It's also The TMUFC family fun day. So no stress, worry or blind panic as I set off to see if the Terrors could make it four wins in a row. Northwood almost putting a damper on the game by going ahead in the first half after having a goal disallowed earlier on. Toots seemed a bit out of sorts in the 1st half but came out in a far better mood for the second 45mins. An equaliser from Danny B set up a nervous finale as Toots pushed forward as Northwood looked to score from counter attacks. Well into injury time the fantastically talented Razzaq Coleman scored, sending Fortress Imperial into some pretty mental scenes as only last minute goals can do.
It was also the TMUFC family day and a good crowd of just under 300 turned out for the afternoon. Great to see Tooting MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan at the game and hope to see her back again soon.

A big thanks to everyone who helped make the day a sucess. One of the really positive things this season is the amount of volunteers who help out on match days doing various jobs. This really does help improve the whole match day experience and means more things can be arranged and run behind the scenes  

 
Sunday and another trip to the Fortress to see Tooting Bec play Walton and Hersham play out a very entertaining game in the FA Vase. W&H winning 4-2. Tooting Bec our new tenants playing some good football but undone by a couple of great goals by the visitors. 

A reasonable crowd including supporters from Sutton United, TMUFC and a few ground hoppers

As I've said before Non League football is far far better than people seem to imagine. Two days, two games and still change out of a twenty pound note for admission and programmes for myself and Ant. Add a couple of quid for food and drinks still far less spent on watching mercenary premiership players going through the motions for a weekly wage that would cover the playing budgets of two or three Non League clubs for a year.

Another trip to Gangrene Lane for another Friday night FA Cup match for Sutton Common Rovers this time against Beaconsfield was next on my hectic lifestyle, an enjoyable game but it was not to be SCR night as they lost 3-1. I was hoping they would get through for the chance to play them at Suttons ground. It's about time we played there again.

      The Greggs Superstore on Sutton High Road.... The only reason to go to Sutton
                                                                   this season ?

 

Anyway sod them. The big game this weekend was the visit of AFC Varndeanians to Fortress Imperial for the FA Cup fixture. A couple of years ago the Footballing Gods seemed to have it in for the Mighty Toots, well the Terrors got a huge hand from them as just before we scored our first goal the Ref and Linesman missed a nailed on hand ball in the penalty area which the South Coast side were quite understandably pissed about. TMUFC pretty much scoring at the other end a couple of seconds later. Good job VAR was not in operation but it's about time we had some luck. Goals from Nathan Daly, David Castanho and Nebay Haile sealed the 3-1 win which takes us into the next round. A crowd of 260 at the game including a number of Varndeanians who brought more than most of the other teams in the Victor Meldrew South Central will do.

 

                                          Varndeanians on the starboard side Captain

Spent the second half with Lee from St. Matthews Project and what a top chap he is. St. Matthews links with Tooting and Mitcham are getting stronger and that can only be a good thing. Although we spent the whole of the 45mins moaning just like charectors from a bad episode of "Last Of The Summer Wine"

 

Please play them a visit and find out more about this fantastic group :

 

http://www.thesmp.net/

We have drawn Dorking Wanderers at home in the next round. A town famous for it's massive cock statue and little else. Saying that they are a team that have had a huge amount of sucess since we just beat them to the title in Franks second year so maybe I'm just jealous of sucess on the pitch and large cocks in general. Winable but it will be tough. Probably at good job it's at home. I'm sure they will bring a few over to add to the crowd, hope so anyway.

 

Massive Big Cock

 

Missed two events during the week. A league cup fixture at South Park and a 2-1 victory in the group stages. Why the league has thought this to be a good idea is totaly beyond me but "Hey Ho" a win is a win. Also missed the meet the manager get together at the ground die to work which was a shame and something I was hoping to attend. I work in a government office in Westminster as as you may have noticed there has been a lot going on there over the last few days, keeping your truely stuck at work sorting out various problems caused by the loons running the country.

 

Missed the 1-1 draw away to Harlow which means we have gone 8 games unbeaten so far this season. Fantastic stuff from the Terrors which has lead to much happiness and laughter in Hackbridge Towers over the last couple of months.

 

Talking of laughter the club will be holding a comedy night this coming Friday 20th Sept. So head over to Fortress Imperial for a night of chuckles and smiles which is not rhyming slang for piles. I'll be signing autographs and showing off my Twerking skills so be there early.

Up The Stripes !!!!!!
 

Pre Season Pre Nerves

Well here we are Dear Reader, Hope you had a lovely break away from my tales of doom, gloom, happiness and joy. So it's the start of the new 2019 / 20 season and we get ready for the start of the Victor Meldrew South Central League.

We'd all been waiting a while for the return to Fortress Imperial and the start of the Pre Season friendlies and the team has looked really good in the first few games. Much as I love Mrs H and I'm sure she loves me, spending too much time in each others company while going around the Asda Beddington Lane on a Saturday has meant she has looked forward to the start of the season more than I have plus she gets to be free of Bog End Ant for a few hours. So it was to be a pretty busy Pre Season programme for me and Ant...

Mrs H looking forward to the start of the 2019-20 season as she gets to get rid of Hackbridge Harry and Bog End Ant on Saturdays


A number of players from last seasons squad had left as Frank Wilson took the reins over at Mertsham and took a number of our players with him after Hayden Bird had joined Kingstonian . I wish him and the departing players all the best over there. I hope the footballing Gods treat him better than they did in his last year at Toots. In truth losing a number of senior players caused a lot of worry on the various social media sites but the club have brought in some new faces and a returning hero Dean Hamlin to bolster the ranks. A number of youth players from last seasons Under 23 Champions have also been brought into the first team squad. Things are looking good and there was a full programme of pre season fixtures booked to help get the Terrors up and running for the new season.

To start with a two nil victory over Moist Molesley and then another two nil win over our next door neighbours Tooting Bec set things off nicely for our short trip over to Carshalton on July 13th, Toots turning out an impressive three nil win against the Robins who had a fantastic last season and have start pulling in some impressive crowds. They played a mixture from their squad which I'm told contained only a few first team players but even so the second half was great to watch from a Terrors or Neutral perspective. Goals from Filipe, Hibbert and Danny Bassett who may or may not have swapped the delights of playing in Canvey Island and returned to up market Mitcham to play his football. Next up a home game on the fantastic looking home pitch against Reading who played a mixture of youth team players and trialists. Toots winning the game 3-2 with another excellent performance against the Championship Club. The Terrors switched of a bit at the end allowing the visitors to score two late goals.

Saturday 20th July we had a visit from our old friends from down the A3, Corinthian Casuals, a friendly club that prove that not all teams that play in pink are bastards. An 12:30 kick off was a shame as the Casuals would probably brought a larger away following to the game. A hard fought game which seemed to be heading to be a 0-0 draw until two late goals for The Terrors gave us victory. Tooting Bec also played Sheerwater on the day allowing me and Bog End Ant to fit in two games in a day. Also on the same day Dulwich Hamlet played Tottenham over in the Sainsburys Car Park. People call Football the "Beautiful Game" but every now and again footballs ugly side shows it's face... And it doesn't get much uglier than that.

 

                                                         Dulwich Hamlet v Tottenham

Next to visit us and play up the rear pitches were Greenwich who gave us a good work out and we got a 2-1 victory. They seem to be having a bad time off the pitch since the last time we played each other during our Championship season which is a shame. Which as anyone can tell you with Football is that is doesn't take much for things to go tits up.
Hastings then arrived at Fortress Imperial for another PSF. I'm told they expected the game to be played on the main pitch and weren't to happy about being taken up the rear to play on the 3G pitch.
I missed most of the game due to trying my hardest to sort out the millions of programmes we are going to be selling from the new super doper club shop on match days during the forthcoming season.
Hastings well beaten 3-1 I'm told by Bogend Ant who shows not in the slightest bit of bias when discussing Terrors games.

Next up was a trip over to Gander Green Lane to see Sutton v Barnet play out a 1-1 draw. I used to go and watch Barnet when living "Up Norf" so have a bit of a soft spot for those Bee types. Also allowed me to spend some quality time with "Dirty Barry" and Sutton guitar hero @bornatotter for a night of serious debate. Next game for myself and Ant was the friendly against a strong Charlton Athletic under 23 team who were to beat us 2-0 it what was to be an entertaining close game which despite the result still gives us Terrors a lot to look forward to. Point of interest was that Ex Terror Abraham Odoh scored the Robins second goal from the penalty spot.  Last two games involved another trip to GGL this time to watch Sutton Common Rovers play Moist Molesley in the early stages of this seasons FA Cup. An interesting 1-1 draw made for a good Friday night entertainment. I do enjoy Friday night games and wish that Toots got the chance to play a few. Last up on my Pre Season was Ramsgate at Fortress Imperial for a pretty ordinary 1-1 draw with out visitors from Kent going 1-0 up before a last equaliser from Shamal Edwards.

Really looking forward now to the start of the season and to see how we have improved from last year. We were pretty much undone by the bad start which cost us any chance of making the play offs. I still maintain that we were our own worst enemies last season and that a good number of dropped points were due to our own mistakes rather than the opposition teams good play. We've lost a number of the squad from last season but with four of them joining League teams it proves that the plan the club has got going at Tooting and Mitcham is paying dividends. Lexus Beedon finally joining Reading and Saidou Khan joining Maidstone. The club is getting an excellent reputation for it's youth set up. This of course could be a double edged sword which means any good players will move on but it also gets the club known for having good players which will hopefully help put bums on seats.

                                  "They play in Pink and Blue, Their goalie smells of Poo"

Off the pitch we have lost long time supporters with Dave McCann and Martin Harvey and our deepest sympathies go out to their families. Very Sad.
In other news former Surrey FA boss Caroline McRoyall has joined TMUFC as the Clubs Chairperson and we all wish her the best of luck in her new position.
There are a lot of changes going on at Tooting and Mitcham and the clubs has changed for the better, more people helping out and getting involved behind the scenes and there is a really good vibe about the place now.


Fingers crossed Dear Reader....
Up The Stripes !!!!

El Tootsico and The Plod

Well this is the last blog of 2018-19, so thanks to everyone who's bothered to read this and any other of my rubbish over the last few months.  As per usual there is happiness, pain, tears and joy as we come to the end of yet another eventfull season at Fortress Imperial by the Banks of the mighty Wandle. It's never boring being a Terror.... It might not be fun all the time but it's always interesting.

Three years to the day that the mighty Toots lifted the London Senior Cup after beating Hendon. Tooting and Mitcham were crowned the first ever winners of the Tooting Cup after an entertaining game against our new lodgers Tooting Bec FC. In the first game between the two clubs, the Terrors ran out 4-2 winners. A good work out before the Surrey Cup Final and hopefully the start of a good healthy rivalry. The Bec have grown from strength to strength and are a team and set up worth keeping an eye on. But dear reader it was to end in tears.

 

 

The Surrey Senior Cup Final ended as a two nil defeat to Met Police in a game we never really got going in. The last time we played them was the "must win" game at the end of the 2017-18 season which we needed to win to stand any chance of staying up and we went 1-0 down after 43 seconds. At least we showed an improvement as we keep it goaless for the first minute. A couple of defensive balls ups gave Plod two goals in the first half and in truth if we were still playing now we'd still not have scored. Seen a video of the first goal on Twitter taken from behind the goal and it is almost (almost) funny, a long range shot which bounced over the keeper as he dived down to collect the shot. Both of the goals seemed to knock the stuffing out of everyone and personally I knew the writting was on the wall at half time. Lots of vocal and a few really pissed travelling Terrors made the short trip down the A24 to Dorkings new stadium and the home to Surrey FA sang their hearts out for 90 minutes but it was not to be our night.

Plod had played a number of their youth players due to them playing in their divisional play offs the day before. But remember how many of our players are under 23 if you are reading this from a non Toots perspective. They defended well and shut us down effectively. Met Police have always had a good set up and youth system, Their under 18's also reached a final and I think too many of the travelling Toots under estimated Plod thinking that the game was already in the bag.  Can't really complain about the outcome. I will however complain about the Surrey FA and the rubbish programme for the match which must have been knocked up by one of the local inbred morris dancers who inhabit Dorking with more mistakes in it than our defence from the 2017 -18 season. I've been told by several people that the Surrey FA hate TMUFC even more than Mishi does so they must have been absolutely  delighted with the result.... Just as Mishi was. Plods goalie was rather happy as well, I supose being accussed of being a freemason who likes truncheons up his bum touched a nerve. Really hope Met Police win their play off final against Tonbridge Angels and get promoted so we never have to worry about playing them again or their huge travelling support which seemed to be made up of their playing squad and five or so Daily Mail readers ever again.

Cheers to our players and staff who came up to thank the fans after the game. It was good to say a proper good bye to Isiah and wish him all the best. What a great player.

 

 

Down but not out

 

The under 23s won their Champions Play Off Final against Bowers & Pitsea 5-2 which really is the perfect way to end this season after winning the league in such style. I'm sure we'll see a lot more from them shortly.

To end up in a cup final and just outside the play off places with a successful youth set up must be seen as major positive to build on for next year after the relegation of last season and how low moral was over at Toots. Things have really changed and a lot of people deserve a big pat on the back for the hard work and belief they have shown in this great club.

 

                                                            Elvis has left the building

 

A Liverpool v Tottenham Champions League final will have a big impact on a number of our regulars. Expect a punch up between Mrs H and Dave Irons at some point soon.

Got one more game planned for this year with the Non League trophy thingy at Wembley, but after that it's trips to Sainsburys and Asda on Saturdays. I know a lot of you are into Cricket but I've never been a fan of watching men tampering with their balls. I'll be crawling up the walls soon waiting for the pre season to start. 

Cheers to everyone who's read any of these blogs and cheers to all that follow me on Twitter x

Up The Stripes !!!!!

Cheeky Cheeky....

Hi Groovy Gang.... More words of wisdom from Hackbridge Towers on the glorious Toots.
So the last game of the 2018-19 season was a home fixture against FC Romania, a team formed a few years ago from Romanians living and working in London. They started right at the bottom and have successfully made their way up the footballing ladder. I missed the game at their place but those who went said what a friendly club they were and I'm glad they avoided relegation which at the start of the season might have seemed possible. Stories like this are great and just show that although we have lost some great and famous clubs over the years that there are always new ones to take their place.

Romania has also given us Count Dracula and the Cheeky Girls so I sent off to Fortress Imperial after locking up the local virgins in Hackbridge hoping for an exciting afternoon of neck biting, bat transformation and bottom molesting but alas my neck remained bite free and no one fondled my buttocks in our 2-1 victory. A game which only really came to life in the last 15mins.

Gabriela and Monica waiting for the Tram at Wimbledon Station before heading  to Tooting and Mitcham ready for an afternoon of bottom touching.

At the end of the game myself and Dave Irons presented the Supporters club trophies in the club bar. Antonio Simeone was voted player of the season... Well deserved in my opinion and it's been great to have him back this year. Dominic Morgan Griffiths came 2nd with Isaiah Jones coming in 3rd. Plenty of votes were cast and pretty much every player got voted for which shows how well the whole team has played well this season. Ajani Domingo-Carrington won goal of the season for his goal against Chalfont. Isaiah's goal at the away game at Marlow also received a number of votes.

Vote for the best game was the 4-3 victory at Egham and worse was Northwood away. A big thanks to everyone who voted and a really big thanks to Dave Irons and Charlie Till for getting the trophies and doing the count up of the votes cast.

Cheers to Kevin Cummins for the photo of myself and Dave Irons presenting Antonio with the   Supporters Player of The Season Award.

So after the 2-1 victory, we finished in 6th place, just outside the play offs. A position I would have given my right hand for after the first 45 mins at Egham Town away back in October last year. We had lost all but one of our league games, a couple in quite spectacular style and were 3-1 down and the travelling Terrors were about the most angry I've ever seen. Which Dear reader if you know anything about TMUFC is quite a statement to make.... The second half is seen by many as the time when things turned around. Three second half goals saw us snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. We had had some good cup results in the various trophies Toots enter every season so there was a sense that things would/ could change after the final whistle.... And they did. This started a good run for the Terrors which put us into the top ten in the table which we stayed in for the rest of the season. Apart from the defeat at Westfield away I can't think of any other games in which we really didn't put a shift in. I've enjoyed this league campaign and their is defiantly a good sense of optimism around the place now.  The management and coaching team deserve a lot of credit for what they have achieved and the football style we play. Well done....

I know there have been a number of moans and groans about playing in the South Central but I believe we have a better chance of making the play offs or going up from this league than being moved across to the South East league where some better known clubs await. Admittedly we have no geographical or historical rivals in this division but our home crowds have been better attended by our own fans this season than last. I was worried that we would be playing home games in front of crowds around the 100 mark after last seasons relegation but I've been proved wrong. Again though not many clubs brought an away following to Fortress Imperial, those that did are looking at promotion anyway.

As for our friends and local rivals, I'm very pleased to see Corinthian Casuals hold there own in the premiership, Carshalton at the time of writing are in the play offs against Merstham which could lead to back to back promotions for the Robins. Dulwich are happy back in their car park and although they nearly got dragged into the relegation battle they stayed just outside and continue to get huge crowds over at Champion Hill. Sutton's season although not as good as last year they still managed to be a major pain in the arse to a number of so called bigger clubs and their fans.  I should be green with envy and although I wish we were in a higher division I've seen enough change at Toots to feel very optimistic for the 2019-20 season. Behind the scenes more people have been getting on board and helping out around the place and there is a better feeling about the club and how things are going. Just remember how things were at the end of last season and how many of us wondered how we could cope in the future. We  have new noisy neighbours for next season with Tooting Bec playing their fixtures at Fortress Imperial in what we all hope with prove to be a successful partnership moving forward. We play each other in a friendly fixture this coming Saturday 4th at home. Kick of at 3pm... Come on Tooting !!!!!


After this on Tuesday 7th May we all head of to Dorking to see the Surrey Senior Cup Final with Met Police. They are in the play offs in their division and will be a hard team to beat. But on our day we can out play anyone and with what I should imagine will be a loud vocal following of Travelling Terrors anything can happen. We have always had good away support and this game will be no different.....

Met Police hooligan firm "The Rozzers" packing the terraces of Imber Court before starting yet another disgusting afternoon of football violence and thuggery.

A big thanks to all the people who follow in on twitter has I've now got over 600 followers, most of which may well be Russian Sex Bots but I'm still chuffed that anyone
A/ Reads my rubbish.
B/ Reads more of my rubbish on Twitter.

So a big hug and cuddle from me xxx

Up The Stripes !!!