Lewisham Borough (Community)

Lewisham Borough (Community) FC is a non-league football club that was formed in 2003 following the merger of Moonshot AFC, Ten Em Bee and AFC Lewisham to serve the local community of Lewisham in south east London.

The club moved into the Ladywell Arena to play their home games as Borough were accepted into the Kent County Football League Division One West; which was won in their debut season along with promotion to the Premier Division.

The Premier Division title was lifted in 2005-06 but promotion to the Kent League was denied because their home ground was deemed not up to the required grading. After several top ten finishes Boro were accepted into the newly formed Kent Invicta League for the 2011-12 season.

A mid-table debut season was followed by several campaigns at the wrong end of the table. Despite finishing in last place in 2015-16 the club remained at step six level in the renamed Southern Counties East League Division One.

The 2016-17 season also saw ‘The Sham’ finish bottom of the table but retain their league status going into 2017-18 under manager Ebun Thomas; who was replaced in September 2017 by joint player managers Sean Jarvie and Tim Moffatt.

Lewisham Borough (Community) FC will play in the Southern Counties East League Division One in the 2017-18 season.

My visit

Lewisham Borough (Community) 1 Sporting Club Thamesmead 5 (Monday 25^th September 2017) Southern Counties East League Division One (att: 83)

I’d returned from a fabulous weekend in Liverpool; albeit nearly an hour late owing to overhead power cable troubles on the line near Watford. Any thoughts of going straight home were abandoned. I just hated wasting a night off work.

Instead I took the Northern line from Euston to London Bridge before catching a suburban service to Ladywell in south east London; popping into the Ladywell Tavern for a decent enough pint of Laines Best Bitter before grabbing a bite to eat from the Village Fish Bar.

It appeared that the best route to the ground was along Malyons Road and then along some paths next to Ladywell Park to the ground. However, things didn’t quite work out like that after I failed to cross a bridge; which appeared to go nowhere?

What I hadn’t realised in the dark was that the railway line ran between where I was and Ladywell Arena. This meant I had to walk all the way through the new housing estate along Adenmore Road where Catford Greyhound Stadium had stood until its closure in 2003.

The modern identikit housing stood either side. I had a worrying moment when a well built black youth seemed to take exception at the purely accidental walking towards each other. Most people smile or say sorry in such situations. The youth snarled something at me. My pace increased after that!

My detour meant walking all the way to Catford Bridge station and then back to the arena along Doggett Road. I was relieved to receive a friendly welcome at the little hut by the entrance; where I paid my £5 admission, which also included a programme.

A cup of team cost a quid from the friendly lady in the clubhouse. I’d read on the excellent Non-League Matters Forum of previous visitors been impressed by the friendliness of the place and how the club fought against the odds on and off the pitch. I had to agree.

The teams came out from the buildings behind the curve at the entrance end; which had a slight overhang in wet weather. Someone using the fitness facilities further along gave a loud “Come on Boro” to encourage the home side.

I continued around to the railway side, which was the only one with real spectator accommodation. A small modern seated stand had been recently erected. A good gaggle of spectators had gathered; obviously preferring this proper football to the live match on Sky.

Boro started well with plenty of pace been offered down the near touchline from the diminutive young winger. They could have taken the lead had Jerome Richards not lost control of the ball when in on goal; allowing the Sporting keeper Simon Vanderhook to gather.

Sporting Club Thamesmead were formerly known as Seven Acres Sport and then Seven Acre & Sidcup before changing names as they moved into Bayliss Avenue in 2015; while Thamesmead Town departed to play games at Dartford.

They went ahead when Jamie Williams fired in from a narrow angle before Thamesmead custodian Vanderhook pulled off a magnificent stop before the follow up was blocked on the line. I enjoyed the game and the atmosphere; which was accompanied by applause on occasions.

Sporting doubled their lead when the erratic referee Christopher Dodd; who overruled his linesmen’s offside decisions more than once, pointed to the spot following a clumsy challenge. Josh Patrick slotted home from twelve yards.

The score soon became 3-0 as Boro’s defence was once again found at sixes and sevens; allowing Merrick Simms to race clear before rounded goalkeeper Alexander Kibbey and scoring into an empty net.

At half time, a fellow ‘hopper’ Luke from Worthing AKA ‘Sussexhopper’ stopped for a chat on his way to the clubhouse before returning for the second half, as we caught up on chat about our travels. Luke was heading to Scarborough the following weekend and was keen for tips.

The second half followed a similar pattern as the home side’s attacking flair was outdone by their defensive naivety. Thamesmead went on to miss lots of chances to increase the score throughout, as an overworked Kibbey did his best in damage limitation.

He wasn’t helped when Tim Moffatt’s awful pass let in Patrick, who rounded the goalie before netting. Another defensive howler later gave Patrick an easy opportunity to complete his hat trick; which he gobbled up.

We quite enjoyed the match. It certainly wasn’t the worst ever Step Six game we’d experienced, and there was a friendly vibe around the place. Boro got a late consolation as Moffatt volleyed in. The man in black had seemingly had enough as he blew for full time without hardly any stoppage time.

It was really good to hear a home club official thank people for attending as I went to use the facilities before heading away. The lady behind the bar also said goodbye. Little touches like that encourage my return and keep an eye on that particular club’s results.

On leaving, I headed back to Catford Bridge station for the London Bridge service, before rounding off my terrific long weekend with a few pints in the Kingsbury branch of Wetherspoons hearing about Steve Barnes’s trip to South Wales.