Wednesday, 9 March 2011
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL AT CHAMPION HILL - "COME ON FISH"
Third from bottom Fisher FC were formed in 2009 after the end of Fisher Athletic and have been ground sharing at Dulwich Hamlet's Champion Hill. Hythe Town are looking good for the league title with games in hand over their nearest challengers. It has sure been a season to remember for supporters of Scott Porter's team who were the first Kent League side since 1950 to reach the first round proper of the FA Cup where they lost after a memorable trip to League Two Hereford United. An incredible achievement for all at the club.
Fisher FC's tag line on their website is "A Bermondsey club, wholly owned and run by it's supporters" and their long term aim is to move back to a Community Stadium somewhere in the Rotherhithe and Bermondsey area. What is a shame is that the old Surrey Docks Stadium is derelict and vandalised after standing empty for a number of years . Pictures of the cold end's visit in September 2010 can be found HERE in the forgotten football article written at the time.
One hundred and five people gathered to watch the game in which, aside from the goal scored by Brendan Cass in the first few minutes, Fisher looked the better side for the opening twenty or so minutes without really troubling the away keeper Keiron Mann. Backed by plently of "COME ON FISH" shouts the home side tried their best against the league leaders. In particular for the Fish Dexter Babalola on the right hand side of midfield put in an impressive performance. He has quick feet, a good touch, showed lots of skill and made some strong forward runs deservedly netting the sponsor's man of the match award.
Gradually the visitors came into the game with centre back's Pat Kingwell and Dave Cook putting in sturdy performances. On the half hour Dan Teeley making only his second appearance for the Fish made a great save only to unluckily parry the ball into the path of Cass who slid the ball into the net to make it 2-0. Cass showed he has played at a higher level with his clinical finishing. The cold end remembers him scoring all those goals for Dartford FC in their Ryman North Championship campaign a few years back.
Hythe Town put in a professional performance in the second half and looked the more threatening in front of goal with Fisher passing the ball nicely and going forward well but never really having a decent
chance in front of goal thanks to the partnership of Kingwell and Cook.
The cold end says watch out for Hythe Town in the Ryman Division One (South) next season should they finish top and gain promotion.
With Fisher FC it's good to see the famous name hasn't been confined to the history books after the sad demise of Fisher Athletic in 2009. Here's hoping they return to their spiritual home in Bermondsey and Rotherhithe area sometime soon.
There is more Monday Night Football at Champion Hill next Monday when mid-table Tunbridge Wells visit. The Stadium is only a short walk from East Dulwich train station which is only a ten minute journey from London Bridge.
Landlords Dulwich Hamlet play Chipstead on Saturday and then entertain Leatherhead next Tuesday night in the Ryman Division One (South). Hamlet have an exciting young squad and run numerous youth sides in local leagues. They run two Under 18 sides of which one had an excellent run in the FA Youth Cup this season before putting up a very brave and impressive performance against the full-time Newcastle United youth/under 18 team who ran out 2-6 winners on a memorable night at Champion Hill.
Both clubs continue to work with the local community which is essentially what non-league football at this level should be all about.
FISHER FC WEBSITE
HYTHE TOWN WEBSITE
KENT FOOTBALL LEAGUE WEBSITE
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Watch out for Fisher's (playing in black and white stripes) number seven who is the aforementioned Dexter Babalola
Wednesday, 7 June 2023
CLASSIC PROGRAMMES - FISHER ATHLETIC v RS SOUTHAMPTON - 1982
On Saturday 18th December 1982 Fisher Athletic welcomed Road Sea Southampton to their ground in Salter Road, SE16 which was then known as the Melish Sports Complex.
Road-Sea Southampton had been formed in 1973 as a Sunday League side and were named after their sponsors who were a local freight shipping company.
After purchasing land in the Marchwood area a ground was developed and they joined the Southern League for the 1982/83 season so this would of been their first trip to play Fisher Athletic. They were accepted into the Southern League with no history of playing Saturday football at any other level.
It was also Fisher's first season in the Southern League as they had won the London Spartan League to achieve promotion in 1981/82.
This game saw RS Southampton in 3rd place and the hosts in 8th with Crawley Town top of the Southern Section table which was then at Step Three of the non-league pyramid. The division also had Woodford Town, Canterbury City, Hounslow and Thanet United as members.
The final table saw Fisher Athletic crowned as Champions and RS Southampton finish in third place. The Fish's promotion saw them move up to Step Two and then ultimately be members of non-league's top division from 1987 to 1991.
Road Sea followed as Champions of the division in 1983/84 which also saw them get to the Fifth Round of the FA Vase where they were beaten at Leyton-Wingate. They finished 5th and 16th in the Premier Division before in 1986 withdrawing from the Southern League to join the Wessex League.
Sadly in 1987 Road-Sea withdrew their financial backing and the club folded. The club's ground is still used today by Southampton Football Club as a training base where is stages youth and some reserve team games.
The programme states that RS won 4-0 when The Fish visited them in September and also thanks their fans for 'marvellous support' that was given in their recent Vase Replay defeat at Windsor & Eton. It was felt that 'it should have been our year to go on to Wembley'.
THE WHITESMITH ARMS is sadly closed down and is now a residential property. THE ANCHOR TAP is still open!The Fish had Ossie Bayram on the wing who is most well known for his time with Dulwich Hamlet where he is considered a club legend by many of their loyal fans. Dave Sansom, brother of Kenny, is also listed who went on to play for Barnet and manage Aylesbury United for short spell in the early 90s.
The 'Focus on Fisher Player' section features Paul Shinners who had netted 19 goals for the team up to that point in the season. He joined Gillingham in 1984 and went on to play for both Colchester United and Leyton Orient in the football league. His Brother Bobby was centre half for Fisher Athletic and Ray was the Captain of Croydon FC at the time who went on to play for The Fish.
RS had central defender Paul Bennett in their ranks. He had played for both Southampton, Reading and Aldershot in the football league. He moved from Reading to The Shots for a then club record fee of £25,000 in 1979.
Striker Joe Blochell was also in their squad - He had made a handful of football league appearances for Wimbledon in 1982 on loan from Southampton. He had joined from Swedish club IFK Arvika and went to play for Bognor Regis Town, Wycombe Wanderers as well as clubs in Norway and Sweden.
Monday, 21 November 2022
"YOU'VE BEEN BATTERED BY THE FISH" - FISHER VICTORIOUS IN THE BATTLE OF BERMONDSEY
I've visited St Pauls Sports Ground before which ironically was on the same date - On Tuesday 15th November 2016 when Sheppey United played Fisher in the same competition.
Fisher, under the management of former Tower Hamlet's boss Ajay Ashanike had been struggling to find results in league matches this season. Prior to kick off they had won two, drawn two and lost seven of their eleven SCEFL Premier games and had lost to Jersey Bulls in the Isuzu FA Vase the previous Saturday.
They had made headlines by playing eight games in the Emirates FA Cup which each of their ties going to replays. They had beaten Step Four side's Sutton Common Rovers and Sittingbourne along with Spelthorne Sports to then play Vanarama South side Welling United in the Second Qualifying Round drawing 0-0 away from home before losing 0-3 at home in front of a bumper crowd of 573!
The Fisher fans are a fantastic group and are still firmly in support of Ajay who remains as popular as ever in this part of South-East London.
For this game against their tenant's there was a crowd of 153 people watching.
Bermondsey Town had been promoted from the Bromley and South London League Jim Cooper Premier Division last season. They had finished fourth and went up to the SCEFL Division One for their debut season at Step Six of the non-league ladder. The club were formed as a Sunday League team in 2013 and has been making progress upwards ever since.
They have found the jump upwards a real challenge and are currently bottom of the table having won one, drawn one and lost twelve of their fourteen league games played letting in forty-six goals too.
Looking at the respective league positions it was The Fish who were big favourites for this eagerly anticipated game. It was that way for most of the 90 minutes, but Bermondsey did show some promising play with a long range shot in the first half well saved by Fish keeper Ted McDonald and their standout player Andrea Carrera. The striker had the ball in the net in the second half only for his effort to be ruled out as another player was adjudged to be offside standing in front of the keeper. Minutes later he scored a brilliant goal smashing the ball into the net from well outside of the box.
He was signed from Eden Park Rangers who play in the top tier of the Bromley and South London League where he scored thirteen goals last season.
Fisher's goal scorers were Luke With, Lewis Duberry (Pen), Henry Adeniran, Billy Brown and Nader Zeddini. I thought Darnelle Bailey-King looked a good player on the wing with lots of skill and trickery along with Atta Gyeou in defence. His forward run into the box set up The Fish's first goal.
The home fans were fantastic as were the supporters of Bermondsey Town. The Fish sang lots of support for their team including "You've been battered by The Fish" hence the headline and also belted out a song confirming that Bermondsey is full of fish, fish and more fish!!!
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
The 5-1 win could be a catalyst for Fisher FC's league season as they don't have the FA Cup or FA Vase to concentrate on anymore. They followed this up with a 2-1 home win over K Sports on Saturday. Their next game is again at St Pauls and is designated their Community Day where there is lots going on including a prize for the supporter dressed in the best football shirt.
The first 50 supporters at the ground will receive a free pie courtesy of M.Manze the famous Pie & Mash Shop.
Bermondsey Town's next game is a long trip to the coast to play Lydd Town who are currently in fifth place in the table. I think their home shirt is one of the best I've seen this season in league and non-league football - The club have them available at a bargain price of £25. Let's hope the second part of their 21/22 season is better than the first part and results start to improve.
Rotherhithe is the nearest train station to St Pauls and with the recent opening of The Elizabeth Line it's really easy to reach from Central London. You can get to Whitechapel from Farringdon on the new purple line in around 10 minutes and then down on the East London Line in another 10 minutes or so. It's then another 10-minute walk from the station.
If you do visit the walk along The River Thames affords some great views of Canary Wharf, Limehouse and Wapping as shown below.


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