Thame United

Thame United FC is a non-league football club from the Oxfordshire market town of the same name; that was formed in 1883. For several decades the club competed in local league football before joining the Hellenic League in 1959.

United were crowned as Premier Division champions in 1961-62 and 1969-70, while competing at Windmill Road. Thame became members of the South Midlands League Premier Division for 1988-89; finishing as runners-up in their debut season.

Another second place finish came in 1989-90 before the team was crowned as South Midlands League champions in 1990-91; from where the club was promoted to Division Three of the Isthmian League.

In 1992-93 Thame finished as Division Three runners-up and won promotion. Further success came as the side won the Division Two title in 1994-95. The 1997-98 ended in disappointment as United were relegated from Division One. However, the club was to bounce back the following season.

Bicester Town, Letchworth, Warrington Town, Vauxhall General Motors and Woodbridge Town were all defeated in the FA Vase. In the semi-final tie, Unite were defeated 5-0 on aggregate by Bedlington Terriers to end any dreams of a Wembley appearance.

The 1998-99 campaign also saw Thame regain their Division One status; where they remained until league re-organisation when United were placed in Division One North for the 2002-03 season.

Thame United were transferred to the Southern League Division One East due to further non-league reorganisation in 2004. Financial troubles blighted the club as the bailiffs seized assets over an unpaid VAT bill and the landlord of Windmill Road Stadium evicted the club.

Thame struggled on; having to play their home matches at the home of Aylesbury United before they also became homeless in the summer of 2006, with the team being relegated twelve months later to the Hellenic League.

Thame managed to arrange a groundshare with AFC Wallingford, as previous manager, Mark West, returned after an earlier successful spell with the club. He couldn’t halt the slide as United were demoted further, to Division One East of the Hellenic League.

Jack Collinge became the club chairman as United fought back, firstly by winning the Division One East title in 2009-10 to return to the Premier Division. A bigger victory was to be won off the pitch.

Thame moved into their new Meadow View Park home in the north of the town in 2011, four years after initial planning. The opening was celebrated with a home game against Oxford United; which attracted a crowd of 1,382.

After four seasons of mid table finishes, ‘The Red Kites’ weighed in with a fifth and sixth place Premier League placing under manager West; before United were crowned as Hellenic League champions in 2016-17, to return to the Southern League Division One East.

Thame United FC will play in Southern League Division One East in the 2017-18 season.

My visit

Thame United 0 Brentford 0 (Saturday 15^th July 2000) Pre Season Friendly (att: 517)

It was a blank day cricket wise at Lord’s so I had the day off. I decided that I would head out and try to visit somewhere new. I headed out from my Willesden Green room while listening to the England v West Indies ODI from Chester-le-Street.

It was a very warm day as I caught the train from Marylebone to Haddenham & Thame Parkway station on the Chiltern line before taking the 280 bus to Thame town centre. I don’t recall it being very far to the Windmill Road Stadium.

The bar was busy with expectant Brentford fans in the majority enjoying beers being poured by local Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher who was serving behind the bar in his role as United’s Commercial Manager.

The visitors, managed by Ron Noades and assisted by Ray Lewington took a strong team with them, and were supported by about three quarters of the attendance.

The ground itself was quite neat and impressive with a single tier seated stand straddling the half way line down one side and open standing either side; backed by the excellent clubhouse towards the top end.

The pitch had been dug out of the slope at that end of the ground; with a small cover atop. The far end goal also had some cover the standing spectators, while the rest of the venue was made up of open hard flat standing.

New signing Mark McCammon and midfielder Martin Rowlands impressed for The Bees as they fielded separate elevens in each half. Thame played plenty of nice football on the deck to give Brentford a decent work out.

At full time I had a drink in one of the local pubs in the pretty town centre before catching my bus back and returning to London.

Thame United 4 Fleet Town 0 (Saturday 9th December 2017) Southern League Division One East (att: 74)

It’s sometimes strange how things work out when I set out on a day’s groundhopping. I’d left home in Kingsbury with several matches in doubt; initially settling on heading to Aylesbury v AFC Rushden & Diamonds.

It was a cold day and the temperatures were dropping on my arrival at Aylesbury Vale station. Despite this, I didn’t expect the postponement that greeted me and can be read about here.

My mood was not at its best, but there was no way I was about to waste a valuable Saturday away from work. Another disappointed fan told me that Thame United was the nearest ground. It would have been simple by car, but I was relying on public transport.

The first task was to ring Thame to confirm that the game was on, as their Twitter feed wasn’t 100% clear. I received positive news and caught the bus back to Aylesbury Bus Station to wait for the Sapphire 280 service leaving at 3pm.

It wasn’t perfect, but I’d get there ten minutes before half time. It was certainly better than nothing, even if the original idea of saving money on a trip to Aylesbury, rather than Banbury, was now flying out of the window.

A pleasant ride took me through some nice villages and then Haddenham. A couple of miles later the floodlights of the Thame Football Partnership at the ASM Stadium, as Meadow View Park was named under a sponsorship deal; where United were based. It took me five minutes from the bus stop back to the entrance.

The gates to the ground were open, with United already 2-0 up on my arrival, thanks to goals from a James McGowan header and a close range finish from Luke Ricketts.

Meadow View Park was a tidy functional venue, with room for future development if necessary. The only structure ran between the two penalty areas and was set back from the pitch, with a few rows of seats and a row of standing at the rear.

There were gaps for the player’s entrance and the refreshment hatch, with the clubhouse and all facilities in the building behind the seating. The rest of the ground was a combination of flat open grass and concrete standing; save for a TV gantry on the far half way line.

The game looked reasonably even when I started watching. Fleet were cheered on by a dozen or so fans, with three standing behind the goal with their flag. It was getting very cold; especially as the venue was out in the open, but the pitch was fine.

Just before the interval Thame made it 3-0. Dan West played in Lynton Goss who slid the ball under Fleet keeper Liam Beach. I’d done my usual lap of a new ground and found myself conveniently by the clubhouse as the half time whistle blew.

The bar served a decent pint of the locally brewed ‘4 Mellow Amber’ from the XT Brewing Co. for £4. I headed to the office in search of a match programme. The amiable lady explained that the printer had failed to deliver. I was having one of those days!

Returning outside for the second half, my attention was drawn to my fixed odds coupons that were giving me extreme interest, as I listened to scores coming in from elsewhere on my phone App.

My accumulator of Leyton Orient, Oldham Athletic, Leeds United and Barnet offered a £277 return. At one point all the scores were going my way. I was offered £140 to cash out, but as I dithered Chesterfield levelled with Barnet. The amount reduced dramatically so I let the bet run.

Meanwhile, back out on the pitch Thame continued to put Fleet under pressure, even though the visitors continued gamely. Beach pulled off two good saves from Goss, before a corner from the forward was headed against the bar by Ben Sturgess and then volleyed wide by the same player when the ball was returned.

On sixty three minutes West scored with a glancing header from Goss’s corner to make it 4-0. Beach was having a marvellous game in the Fleet goal despite the score. He kept out McGowan with a great stop before turning a header from the same man over the bar.

The stopper continued his work when saving a header from Adam Morris before the rebound struck the post. The game gradually petered out as Thame continued their unbeaten run to six matches. It had been an impressive performance from United.

I had ten minutes to get back to the bus stop before the return service arrived to Aylesbury. My previously mentioned accumulator went down, with Aston Villa letting me down on another coupon. However, Hull City’s win still meant a profitable afternoon.

It had been an unexpected afternoon’s entertainment. I decided to call it a night when I returned to Kingsbury and stayed in and had an evening of relaxation as snow fell overnight.