THE EDMONTON ROVERS FORUM
This coming Sunday (25th November) sees us playing Away to Dees Reserves in the Third Round of the London FA Sunday Junior Cup.
It is a 10.30.a.m. Kick-Off in Mitcham, South London and it will take about an hour and a half to drive there ! That means players who need a lift from the Edmonton/Enfield area will have to meet at 8.00.a.m. !
Full details of where we are playing (and the suggested route) are here on the Forthcoming Fixtures page.
Ideally we need to make arrangements on or before training this coming Wednesday night as to who is driving and how many players/exactly who they can give a lift. We will use this thread to sort things out, and here is how I see it at the moment...
Driver...MYSELF
I can take Rafiel and TJ, picking them up at the Silver Street end of Victoria Road (so I can go straight on the North Circular from there). I can only take two as I will have all the kit, etc. in my car.
Driver...TERRY MOORE
I suggest he picks up Lexton, then comes back down the Hertford Road to pick up Martin at Edmonton Green (and possibly Younes if he wants to get a train from Hackney Downs to Edmonton Green ?)
Driver...RIAZ
Can bring Jack and Evon.
Driver...BARNEY
Can bring Jacko, Tony King & Gavin.
Driver...TREVOR
I think he has room for three players at the moment, but as far as I know he will be driving from Barnet and going M25 ?
George said he is going to stay with friends in Blackheath (I think ?) and get a lift to Mitcham from there. I don't think he realises that Blackheath is miles away from Mitcham though. 
I have no idea at the moment how Cascoe, Hagan & Ben are planning on getting there.
I have deleted the previous thread discussing the route.
The squad for this match will be named here on Thursday morning.
Don't forget you must let us know if you cannot come training this Wednesday night.
Trev has confirmed that the squad of 16 for this Sunday is as follows:
Simon Jackson (GK)
Alan Barnard
Terry Moore
Lexton Harrison
Gavin Mardell
Ali 'TJ' Sowe
George Stahlmann
Martin Cruickshank
Daniel Cascoe
Danny Hagan
Younes Jouied
Krishan Singh
Ben Keating
Riaz Daniels
Rafiel Johnson
Jack Bangs
Krishan has been put in the squad instead of Tony King as he was at training last night and Tony wasn't. If players do not inform us that they cannot attend training, then they risk losing their place in the squad, and that is what has happened here.
Jacko, Lexton, Hagan, Cascoe & Ben were not at training either, but they all had legitimate excuses and informed me they could not attend.
John Scouller and Evon Williams were also at training and wanted to be considered, but Trevor has picked Krishan because he has paid his Annual Subs whereas the other two haven't, and also he will be driving and can give Younes a lift.
Obviously, players who are not in the squad can still come along and bring their boots in case of last-minute dropouts, but I would not expect that to happen bearing in mind where we are playing !
As regards travelling arrangements, here is the latest situation:
MYSELF...I will be driving (A406/A205/A217) from Silver Street Station and bringing Rafiel & TJ, meeting them at the bottom of Victoria Road to leave there at 8.15.a.m.
TREVOR...Is driving from Whetstone (on his own at the moment) and going A1000/A406/A205/A217.
KRISHAN...Is driving with Younes from Dalston/Hackney, I presume going over London or Tower Bridge, then through Elephant & Castle, then A3/A24/A217 ?
HAGAN...Is driving on his own from Chingford, relying on his Sat-Nav...which will probably tell him to go A12 through the Blackwall Tunnel, then A205 through Catford & Dulwich to Streatham, then A23/A216.
CASCOE...Is driving on his own from Brimsdown, presumably relying on a Sat-Nav which will tell him to go A10 over London/Tower Bridge, then A3/A24/A217.
GEORGE...Is staying with friends in Blackheath on Saturday night, then one of them is giving him a lift to Mitcham from there...which is just as difficult a journey as it is for us coming from Edmonton.
TERRY...Is driving and picking up Martin from Edmonton Green, then (I think ?) Lexton from Enfield (Green Street area), then Jacko from Enfield Chase area, then (I think ?) going up the Ridgeway onto the M25, round via Heathrow all the way down to Junction 6 (A22) and up to Mitcham from there. Terry thinks that will take just over an hour, but I'm not so sure ! I think he might need to pick Martin up at about 7.00.a.m. !!? 
BARNEY...Is driving and picking up Gavin, then (hopefully) picking up Ben from a railway station somewhere, ideally Tottenham Hale as Barney is going A10, then over Tower Bridge, then A3/A24/A217.
Ben needs to get this train from Broxbourne. As far as I know, Trev will phone Ben tonight to discuss things with him, as this is an extremely difficult place for him to get to when he lives further away than the rest of us and doesn't drive.
RIAZ...Apparently he gets back from holiday on Saturday, but I don't know what time. There is also no guarantee that he will be driving or even in a fit state to play (jet lag ?). We will just have to wait until then. The problem is we need him to drive and give Jack a lift. If Riaz isn't playing, somebody will have to pick Jack up from the Hadley Wood/Oakwood area (I think ?), but Terry (who I think is going past there after picking Jacko up) will have a full car, so Trev might have to do it...then go M25 instead of A406 ? That will all probably have to be sorted out on Saturday night or even at 7.30.a.m. on Sunday morning !
I think that's everybody covered ?
Regarding the current diabolical weather forecast...We are of course the Away Team, so please don't keep pestering me on Saturday (and first thing Sunday morning) asking 'Is the game on ?', as I will more than likely not have a clue ! It could be left up to the Referee to decide when we get there.
The Dees Secretary is also the Chairman of the Morden Sunday League in which they play, so I would like to think he is clued up enough to give us a bit of notice if the game has been called off.
You will all then be informed via Teamer straight away if it is. 
If the game gets called off, it is automatically re-arranged for the following week at the same venue, so the same arrangements (and same squad ?) will probably apply.
Here's the latest situation (at mid-day Saturday)...
The Dees Secretary has told me that their pitch drains really well and the game is unlikely to get called off waterlogged despite over an inch of rain being forecast for this afternoon and tonight. It is perfectly playable at the moment.
I have told him that we are leaving Edmonton at around 8.15.a.m. tomorrow morning, so he says he will bear that in mind if a decision is taken regarding the pitch by the groundsman in the morning. If it is left up to the Referee, I don't know what will happen then. Presumably he will decide at 9.30.a.m.'ish and we will have to turn up ?
The most likely scenario (going by the current weather forecast) is that the pitch will be playable according to the groundsman (and therefore left up to the Referee), but there will be a lot of roads closed because of flooding and fallen trees. There will be 70 mph winds blowing and warnings in the media 'not to travel unless necessary'.
If that is the case when we wake up tomorrow morning, we will have to concede the match and hope that the London FA have sympathy and allow it to be re-arranged. Hopefully the Referee would use common sense in those circumstances and call the game off anyway. It would be a farce in 70 mph winds.
There have already been loads of Non-League games called off in the London area for today because of the weather forecast.
So...basically, everybody is going to have to get up at 7.00.a.m. tomorrow morning and we'll just have to make loads of phone calls then to sort everything out depending on what the weather turned out like. It's unlikely that any decision will be made this evening (at the moment).
As regards lifts, the last I heard was that Ben wants to meet up with Lexton in Enfield and get a lift with him, but Terry already has a full car...unless somebody sits on Jacko's lap ?
I have no idea how Ben is getting from Broxbourne to Lexton's. The trains won't be running as the overhead power lines will no doubt be down (as usual whenever the winds get above 40 mph). 
The other one not sorted out yet is Riaz. I have just texted him asking if he is back from holiday yet, but I have not had a reply. That means Jack still has no lift sorted out at the moment.
I am off to film Ebbsfleet now, but I will check for replies on here, etc at Half-Time & Full-Time.
It has happened to loads of South London teams in the past when Enfield Council (or the Ref) have called off Hazelwood between 9.00. & 9.30.a.m. and I have had to phone them when they are half-way through their journey.
That's Sunday morning football I'm afraid.
