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No.20 - Sat. 3rd November 2007; Leicestershire Senior Cup Round 2 1.30pm at Tod's Place, North Street East, Uppingham, Rutland (Att: 32; Admn and Prog: N/A) |
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View matchday images 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 Uppingham (0) 0 Earl Shilton Albion (0) 2 Town taught lesson in finishing
The town of Uppingham in Rutland, Leicestershire is made famous by the co-educational independent school which dates back to 1588. The prestigious Uppingham School has a tradition for its high sporting standards and has the greatest area of playing fields of any school in England. Edward Thring, headteacher in the early 1800's, opened the first gymnasium in an English school, the forerunner of the present Sports Hall, and later added a heated indoor swimming pool. In 1896 the first rugby football match was played against against the renown Rugby School. Famous Uppingham School alumni include amomngst many others: WH Pratt (aka Boris Karloff), film actor; Jonathan Agnew, England, Leicestershire cricketer and Chief Cricket Correspondent for BBC Radio; Donald Campbell, world land and water speed record holder, killed on Coniston Water Coniston Water in Bluebird; Stephen Fry, actor and writer (Fircroft), expelled in 1971; Danny Hipkiss, professional Rugby player, Leicester Tigers and England; Peter Powell, Radio One disc jockey; Rick Stein, chef and restaurateur; John Suchet, journalist and broadcaster and Johnny Vaughan, TV presenter. More recently the school was used as one of the locations for a Harry Potter film! What an anorak - me, not JKR!! Uppingham Town Football Club is much less famous. Despite this the playing field, that is known affectionately as Tod's Place, is more familiar with locals as it lies just off the main shopping area close to the town centre. Hemmed in on two sides by main roads, the facilities here are basic but homely. An arrangement of wooden climbing frames stand behind the top goal along North Street East. In the left hand corner of the field is a small clubhouse building complete with bar facilities and changing rooms which continues past the half-way line. This is the only cover on site. Beyond are some concrete skate board ramps frequented by the local youngsters who while away their afternoon completely oblivious to events taking place on the pitch. An arrangement of buildings behind the furthest goal act as the local headquaters for the Uppingham scouts. A row of small trees fringe the opposite side of the field which backs on to one of the town's public car parks. It all promotes a fairly enclosed setting. A larger than average crowd had gathered around the pitch to cheer on the local lads who in truth needed all the support they could get. An awful start to the season had seen them slump to one place off the of the bottom in the Peterborough and District Football League Premier Division table; the cruel satistics revealed just one win in ten previous outings. Today it was Leicestershire Senior Cup action that focused their attention with the visit of Earl Shilton Albion FC. On paper it looked like an easy away win for their opponents who by contrast sat next to top of the Leicestershire County League First Division. And true to form the visitors dominated proceedings from the start with wave after wave of attacking football. For all their efforts they just couldn't get the ball past the Uppingham 'keeper though - he was having a cracking game. As time passed the visitors began to get frustated and Town came back into the match. By half-time the scored remained goalless and there wasn't much to choose between the two sides. In keeping with the Guy Fawkes celebrations the Albion manager gave his charges the proverbial rocket during the interval. It worked and within ten minutes his team had found the net from close range - "Hallelujah!" remarked the visiting keeper who was chatting to one of the visiting fans standing beside his goal. Within ten minutes Albion had doubled their lead after an absolute screamer from outside the box found the back of the net. Game over. Dispirited by this the Town lads decided to play out the remaining minutes with a packed defence. Perhaps thoughts of damage limitation were uppermost in their minds. After all they had conceded a shedload of goals so far this season. As the final whistle sounded many felt that the 0-2 scoreline was about right. The boys from Leicester were the better side - but only just! Like the majority (if not all) of teams in this league, Uppingham Town FC do not issue programmes. A range of drinks and cold snacks were available from the clubhouse during the afternoon. If you want something more substantial then there are plenty of hostelries, take aways and a local Somerfield all within easy walking distance from here. Before the game we decided to watch the televised Premier League game between Arsenal and Manchester United whilst enjoying a complimentary 'cuppa' on the house! A visit to the pretty town of Uppingham and its Football Club comes highly recommended. If you get the time take a short detour through the town and admire the impressive Uppingham School. It really is a magnificent experience. Indeed one local pointed out that if the school hadn't been built in the first place then perhaps there wouldn't be a town here at all. Hmmm... Thankyou my learned friend. The joys of hopping in Rutland's second largest town (after Oakham)! FGIF Rating: 4* |
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edited on 09/11/07 |
