Saturday 11 July 2009

Sussex County League Div 1 thrown into chaos




At 09:36AM Sun Oct 05 2008, TerryThomas of the good ship Robin Park posted on a messageboard:

“In response to Pilps question re result at Blackpool, this site has everything on it and is kept up to date.”

And I was introduced to the magnificent website that is www.tonykempster.co.uk and it has kept me entertained ever since. It is quite simply a wonderful website. Tony Kempster was a pioneer of online news for the grassroots game. A genuine fan, an ex-player, a statto and somebody that knew somebody out there would want to know if there was a match on – ANYWHERE – on a Thursday evening in late May.

On a Saturday if you wanted to know how your Step 6 rivals had gone on then you’d click on his site as the results would be updated hours before official sites. Your game called off and you wanted to go somewhere then there was only one person to call.

Sadly when I – and others on Mudhuts discovered this site Tony was already suffering with cancer and this month he sadly passed away. There are numerous obituaries online that do the man service. From looking at the site over the last eight months what I could tell about the man was that he carried himself with great dignity until the end.

Regular contributors are hoping to continue the good work of Tony while the messageboard is as busy as ever. Just as he would have liked it to be. And it’s a great messageboard. Bloody stupid topics at times but where else would you able to find out that: “There are at least 5 pitches at The Osterley Sports Ground. The main pitch is railed off and enclosed on at least 3 sides is for CB Hounslow United and their reserves only. Another pitch has dugouts and is roped off FC Deportivo Galicia play here. A third pitch has dugouts. Many other teams mainly in The Middlesex League lower divisions play on the other pitches including Eutectic, Barn Elms, CB United Social, CB United Social A, amongst others.”

And amongst it all it is almost-free from all the Billy Big Bollocks arguing as is the case on most football messageboards.

As I type this a current hot topic is Favourite Club Names that gives you a flavour of the site...

Here are a few that have been mentioned and this is exactly what should be discussed on messageboards. Not “What songs we should sing?” or “Who are we signing?”

The spirit of football lives on:

Meanwhile enjoy…

Donkey Dodgers of the Rochdale Alliance
Jesmond Mysterons
Godolphin Atlantic
Deportivo Wanka (Peru)
Dukla Prague (thanks to the glorious Half Man Half Biscuit)
Go Ahead Eagles
Sporting Bengal
Kirkintilloch Rob Roy
Stonehouse Violet
Linlithgow Rose
Meppershall Jurassic
Dangerous Darkies (South African 2nd Division as featured in original Cockney Latic fanzine)
Golden Bees (Namibia)
Pigeon Vert (Congo)
Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarves (Ghana)
Eleven Men in Flight (Swaziland)
Maseru Naughty Boys (sadly just relegated from the Lesotho Premier League)
Crookham Krakatoa
Hwange F.C. (Zimbabwe), because the town of Hwange was for many years known as Wankie !
Expanded on by somebody else: “We were 13 years old and in geography. We were being taught about what was then Rhodesia and on the map of that region one of the lads noticed the town of Wankie. He said to the teacher, "Sir, if people in London are called Londoners, what are people in Wankie called?" Cool as you like Mr. Marchant replied, "Rhodesians, John."
From South African third tier:
Mr Price Parkhurst
Mathata Take Me Cool
Mighty Mega Force
Lephalale Young Killers (who play in the Limpopo group against Peace Lovers)
Cloud 9 (in the same group as Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers and Manchester United)
Newmilns Vesuvius (Scottish Amateur side)
Norfolk and Chance (Great Yarmouth League side)
FC Santa Claus (Finland)
Joe Public (Trinidad & Tobago Pro League)
Dinamo Bender (Moldova)
Special mention too for Helsinki team FC Jazz. Nice...
Asthmatic Pit Ponies AFC (Scottish Amateur Football Association)


Dinamo Bender crest

RIP Tony Kempster

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