Read all about our visit to Dover Athletic for their sixth-tier fixture against Farnborough at the Crabble Stadium, Dover.
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Where:
General Info:
Date of Visit: Saturday, 22.10.22, 15:30
Club Name: Dover Athletic FC
Nickname: The Whites
Founded: 1983
Stadium: Crabble Athletic Ground, Capacity: 5,745
League and Rank: Vanarama National League South (6th Tier) Rank: 18/24
Opponents Farnborough (21/24)
Official Site
The Visit:
After 8 years in the fifth tier (the top of the entire non-League pyramid), Dover were relegated two seasons ago (20-21) to the sixth tier following a tough decision by the FA. It came after a mass resignation of the club's staff due to Covid restrictions, which left the club to wither for half a season, at the end of which there was no choice but to drop lower than the Dead Sea.
But we're here to lift the mood, not drop a division! Armed with good spirits and pleasant weather – cool and sunny – we made our way from our B&B in St. Margaret's Bay, the picturesque historic village next door, to the county town and one of the most important towns in all of England: Dover.
We started with an early-afternoon wander around the town, which reminds us more than anything of our own Tiberias in terms of unrealised potential. The southern coastline is one of the most beautiful and impressive in England, with old rival France peeking out over the skyline every now and then, beyond the storm clouds.
The power of the sea, especially around the Channel, is seen here at its mightiest and most beautiful, with the white cliffs standing out first and foremost, separating dark waves from green meadows. Dover Castle, the largest castle in the kingdom and visible from every point in the town, is also one of the most beautiful and best-preserved, and is definitely worth a visit.
But Dover itself, the (overly) sleepy town, had nothing to offer on this Saturday afternoon, so we headed to a pub in the town centre to start getting our throats used to cold beer. In that pub we met a local reporter, photographer and football fan who was interested in our trip and promised to put the photo in the local paper.
After an impressive street performance and an aimless wander along Dover's high street, we drove to the stadium. We parked in the makeshift car park around the rugby pitch and walked up the street leading to the ground. The stadium, with its wooden main stand, was stunningly beautiful. From the top of the stand, spectators are treated to a breathtaking view of dense woodland bordering the gleaming green pitch. Our thoughts at that moment went out to the ball boys who have to search for the ball in that thicket…
We went to the club offices to meet Frank Clarke, the club's lovely secretary, who accepted the plaque and the flag from us and gave us a gift in return – a shirt! Frank was a pilot in the Royal Air Force and later with British Airways, and has visited Israel several times. Amazingly, within a five-minute chat we worked out that he was a staunch opponent of Boris Johnson, who in those days was clocking up his final minutes as British Prime Minister.
After that, the pre-match routine began, which included another pint in the lounge, a cheeseburger or hot dog not worth the paper the receipt was printed on, and waiting for the main action – the match. Amazing how grown-up, serious, experienced people like us shouldn't develop any expectations from a match like this, and amazing how we fall for it again and again.
In front of us, in a relegation scrap (with a draw written all over it, visible from as far away as Scotland), played the home side – seen even by their own fans as a dull team (everyone here is still traumatised by the drop to the sixth tier) – against Farnborough, who for several years running have won the dubious title of the team that concedes the most goals (more than the sides relegated in those seasons). As expected, the match didn't reach a particularly high level, but at least we saw two goals, finishing 1-1.
