An official run as well, hence the steward directing them up Lees Road. Around 9.5km to go, including up to Heptonstall, which is a considerable effort even at walking pace. Taken from inside my place, so apologies for the reflections, telephone wire, etc.
It’s all over. In the rain that came down for most of the second half, the players of Ashington celebrate with their travelling fans, having won the play-off match 3-0. They get promoted, while hosts Glossop North End are relegated. Number 12 feels the pain.
When this weekend in London was organised I had no idea that the London Marathon was being run this Sunday morning, although with hindsight, this certainly explained the dearth of hotel rooms. Never mind, it was nice to get out (albeit in the rain) to a point on the route relatively near to our accommodation and watch this massive river of people flow past: 45,000 people were participating, and we must have seen at least three-quarters of them come down the Woolwich Road. This photo was taken exactly 12 minutes after the leading men came past, so Amy’s doing pretty well.
Considering that the game being watched involved women footballers, this guy might not even have turned up to play: perhaps he just likes wearing the kit. Dialect note: ‘Eyup’ is Yorkshire for ‘hello’ or ‘what’s happening’.
Two football matches for me today and you might as well have one of them, as the views at both were good — more wide-raning at the first of the day (CE L’Hospitalet) but the close-packed urban scene at UE Sant Andreu was still a good-looking one. A packed crowd of 6,000 — excellent numbers for fifth-tier football. It might not be the Camp Nou but you know, I really do prefer this kind of thing.
No apologies for doing the ‘football landscape’ shot today. A magnificent view from the home ground of AFC Crossley — which was up in Illingworth, to the north of Halifax.
After an acutely stressful journey home last night I had no desire to get on a train today, so picked up my usual entertainments as close to home as is possible. The Yorkshire Amateur League game on the park got some passing attention from others, but no one stuck around for very long — as you can doubtless tell, it was a damp experience. Even I gave up after an hour or so and went somewhere warmer and drier (namely, the pub).
I’m sure 2023 will involve plenty of football matches, just as its immediate predecessors have. It was in 2017 that I started going to at least one a week, and 2022 saw me attend 77 in total. I don’t put every one on here to avoid (too much) repetition but sometimes they deserve to appear, particularly when the light is good, as it was this afternoon at Eccleshill United, based in Bradford and playing at the 9th level of English football. Cold though, as you can see from the breath of the home player in blue, but it is January. End of my Christmas break — sadly, it’s time to go back to work.
This time of the year the sun is mostly gone by about 3.45pm and in low light — which includes floodlighting — my camera isn’t going to get any sharp action shots, certainly of football but to be honest even people jogging past the lens will be somewhat blurred. But I think I get away with this one – the impression is of action, the blurring does not really matter. The game was at Ilkley Town FC, the blue-and-yellow blurs scored two late goals to triumph over visitors AFC Blackpool 2-1.
I’m not even trying to hide the fact that I went to another football match this morning. For a while, the light was good. Better, then, than staying inside. This is how I make my life calculations these days.
Being 42 