Greetings one and all and welcome to this week's TLFG.
I'm publishing on Monday morning as I'm still down in Kent after travelling down to watch Actonians' first match of the new FAWNL season at Chatham Town.
Chatham is on the River Medway alongside Rochester and Gillingham - they are in effect triplet towns or a small city.
There's a lot of maritime and literary history around here, with a lot of museums and things to do. Consequently I brought the whole family down and we're staying in Rochester where there's a seventh-century cathedral (second oldest in the country) and a 12th-century castle, plus some Charles Dickens attractions too - all just over 30 minutes train ride away from St Pancras.
Anyway, you're primarily here for the football so I'll rewind to Sunday afternoon.
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| It's the next round of the FA Cup this weekend |
After checking into our hotel (Rochester Travelodge - excellent value at £40 a night for a family room), my daughters and I got a taxi the two-miles to Chatham Town's Bauvill Stadium.
It cost £9 and was well worth it as the journey was uphill pretty much the whole way, so bear that in mind if you're coming by public transport.
The ground has been modernised and is all set up for an afternoon out with a beer garden which sports a huge big screen which showed the FA Community Shield while the match was going on - it part faces the pitch so if you go behind the goal at one end, you can watch both matches at the same time!
With a pumping sound system, a bouncy castle in one corner and a good few hundred in the ground, the atmosphere was lively.
As for the match itself, following Actonians' summer revamp, many saw this as a clash of two title contenders.
What a game ensued!
The A's started brightly but got caught on the break from one of their own set pieces and fell 1-0 down after 11 minutes.
Undeterred, they continued to attack and equalised just after the half hour when defender Lois Colley, a former Chatham player, equalised with a long-range free-kick.
Level at the break, Actonians came out on the front foot and saw an effort blocked on the line before the Chats surged down the left and scored again.
With Colley injured soon after and other stalwart defender Jennie Brereton already subbed off, the visitors were left with only one recognised defender for the remainder but managed to equalise and then take the lead through captain Georgia Griffin with only five minutes to go.
Sadly they couldn't hold on and the hosts grabbed a late equaliser from a goalmouth scramble as the game finished 3-3.
It was a fair score and one I would've happily taken before kick-off - for the neutral it would've been a great watch.
Next Sunday they face another one of the title favourites and big local rivals QPR in what could be another epic game - sadly I'll be working.
Following the game, I confirmed I'll be interviewing the A's new player/owner Steph McCaffrey later this week for my podcast - she played a big part in this game and hit the post herself at one point.
Right, I've got a castle to climb. Have a great week!
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Premier League makes its return with game one falling on Friday night at the Emirates as reigning champions Arsenal welcome newly promoted Coventry City. It's followed on Saturday by the derby between Brentford and Tottenham Hotspur at 530pm.
There's a fine trio of games in the Championship on Saturday too with the derby between West Ham United and Charlton Athletic at the London Stadium topping the bill.
AFC Wimbledon have a busy week, beginning with an EFL Trophy game at Leyton Orient on Tuesday, before Reading pay them a visit in the league at the weekend.
Also in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday, our only fourth-tier club Barnet entertain Arsenal U21 at The Hive in a north London derby.
The National League Cup is also back for its third season. This competition sees clubs from the fifth tier go head-to-head with pro club U21 sides and Boreham Wood, Hornchurch, Sutton United and Wealdstone are all at home on Tuesday.
In the National League itself, Sutton and Hartlepool United are two sides with 100% records after the early sets of fixtures and they meet at Gander Green Lane on Saturday at 1230pm. The early kick-off means you should be able to combine this with the FA Cup tie between Sutton Common Rovers and Haywards Heath Town which starts at 3pm a little to the east at Carshalton Athletic.
In east London, Dagenham & Redbridge have made a great start and on Saturday they face one of their biggest matches of the season as Torquay United make the long trip up from Devon for what could be a highly important National League South game.
With three wins out of three, Dartford have got off to a flyer in the Isthmian Premier and they host Welling United in a derby on Saturday in what is the pick of this week's seventh-tier games.
Below this, the focus is mainly on the FA Cup with the competition now at its Preliminary Round stage.
The two ties which stand out for me are the south-east London derby between Cray Valley PM, who famously made it to the First Round in 2023, and AFC Greenwich Borough. The hosts play a level above so should start as favourites on paper. Whilst in east London, a big crowd should be expected at the Old Spotted Dog where ninth tier Clapton CFC look to cause an upset against the higher ranked Concord Rangers who were a National League South side as recently as 2023.
Throughout the week, we've also got a few bonus fixtures in the Extra Preliminary Round of the FA Youth Cup for U18 teams. It's only non-league clubs at the moment but these matches increase your options of what to see, particularly on often quiet Monday nights.
In the women's game there are a couple of eye-catching friendlies on Sunday with Arsenal hosting Paris FC at Boreham Wood and big spending London City Lionesses taking on Atletico Madrid at their home in Bromley, giving what could be your first chance to see the likes of Mary Earps, Alexia Putellas and Mapi Leon in action for their new club.
In the FAWNL, Hashtag United receive a visit from Exeter City in Tier 3.
In Tier 4, it's a big day in west London where local rivals and two of the pre-season title favourites Actonians and QPR meet at Bedfont Sports for a game which could have a significant bearing on the rest of the campaign.
As always, please make sure you check with clubs before you travel just in case a game has been called off or the venue or kick-off time has changed - this is highly possible for some of the lower non-league clubs and development matches. Also, please let me know if anything is wrong or missing.
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