Hello there and welcome to TLFG.
The end of season wind down continued this week with a number of cup finals completed and play-offs decided.
From a London point of view there has again been plenty to celebrate.
On Saturday Boreham Wood overcame Whitehawk after extra-time to claim a place in the Conference National - something very few people would've expected back in August.
With crowds averaging a little over 300, the Hertfordshire club will now find themselves up against a number of former Football League clubs including recently relegated Tranmere Rovers who were regularly attracting 6,000 to Prenton Park this season.
There was also success for our local sides in the three county cup finals this week. On Thursday, Hendon saw off a spirited Tooting & Mitcham United to win the London Senior Cup 3-2 after extra-time. While on Saturday, Harrow Borough edged to a 1-0 win over local rivals Hanwell Town to claim the Middlesex Senior Cup. There was also success for Metropolitan Police in the Surrey Senior Cup against Merstham.
The one slight disappointment this week saw Brentford suffer defeat in the home leg of their play-off semi-final against Middlesbrough. An injury-time goal saw them lose 2-1 meaning they're still in with a chance but given they've now lost all three games against Boro this season it's looking tough.
Elsewhere, the Isthmian League play-offs have still yet to be resolved. The Enfield Town ineligible player saga went to an appeal on Friday but got adjourned until Monday (11 May) when we should finally know what's going to happen.
UPDATE (12/5/15): Enfield lost their appeal meaning Hendon will now host Metropolitan Police on Thursday 14 May at 745pm - £10 adults. In the other tie, Dulwich Hamlet will travel to Margate. The one-legged final will be on Sunday 17 May at the team which finished highest in the league. All details of Hendon's game are on the match map below. Info on the final will be added if a London club are hosting.
UPDATE (12/5/15): Enfield lost their appeal meaning Hendon will now host Metropolitan Police on Thursday 14 May at 745pm - £10 adults. In the other tie, Dulwich Hamlet will travel to Margate. The one-legged final will be on Sunday 17 May at the team which finished highest in the league. All details of Hendon's game are on the match map below. Info on the final will be added if a London club are hosting.
Aside from the play-offs, it's pretty much all about the Premier League for the remainder of month so you'll have to fork out for your football unless you want to watch some Step 7/Level 11 action which is still continuing for a little while yet. Consequently there won't be a Top 10 this week - the 'Match Ticket Info' section is the best guide to what's on.
From a personal point of view, Sunday is likely to be a sad day as my team QPR will probably get relegated. Nine points adrift with three games to go, they have to begin by winning at second placed Manchester City which looks highly unlikely to say the least.
Personally I'm not hugely gutted by this, we don't deserve to stay up. Our performances haven't been terrible but they haven't been rousing and too many easy points have been dropped with crucial lapses here and there. Given the finances we've had access to, we've made a real mess of things and other sides deserve to stay up far more than we do.
Hand on heart, we are not a Premier League club. With a stadium capacity of 19,000 that we don't always sell out, we're never going to be able to compete with the biggest clubs in the land.
Besides, we usually win a lot more games in the Championship so there should be far more enjoyment to be had at that level - fingers crossed.
Here's to a miracle!
If you're going to see a game, whether you're a local or a visitor, please let me know what you've been up to. If you're interested in reviewing a ground within the London area for this blog then get in touch. You might also want to have a go at writing a 'Top Ten' one week. I also very much welcome photos of your football travels.
Got any questions about visiting London? Don't hesitate to ask - be they football or more general travel/touristy queries.
Got any questions about visiting London? Don't hesitate to ask - be they football or more general travel/touristy queries.
You can contact TLFG through the comments section below or via Facebook, Twitter or even by good old email.
LATEST TICKET NEWS
Please follow this link or click on the tab at the top of the page for all the information you need about how to get a ticket, what's currently available to non-members at London's biggest clubs and any other special offers or promotions which might be running.
THE WEEK AHEAD
There are less than 20 matches in the London area over the next seven days so things really are starting to wind down for the summer.
As has become customary at this time of year, the match map has been bulked out with games at Step 7/Level 11 and also some women's football. With the Step 7 games, venue and kick-off times can be hard to get hold of or be unreliable so please make sure you check with clubs before you travel just in case a game has been called off or the venue or kick-off time has been changed. Also, please let me know if anything is wrong or missing.
As has become customary at this time of year, the match map has been bulked out with games at Step 7/Level 11 and also some women's football. With the Step 7 games, venue and kick-off times can be hard to get hold of or be unreliable so please make sure you check with clubs before you travel just in case a game has been called off or the venue or kick-off time has been changed. Also, please let me know if anything is wrong or missing.
Details on all of this week's games can be found in the following match map. If you've never used it before, please note that when there is more than one match at a specific ground you'll only be able to see individual match pins if you zoom right in. If you don't, the pins obscure each other and you might miss them. To avoid this, you can also scroll down the list of games on the left side of the map page to make sure you get all the information.
Also if you're unfamiliar with the English league structure I indicate the level at which an individual league sits in the national 'pyramid' with the Premier League at the top (Level 1) and various minor leagues at the bottom (Level 10). Typically a top level game will see crowds of anywhere between 20,000-60,000. These figures will gradually decline as you go down the leagues until you get to Levels 8-10 where attendances of 150 or less are most common.
It should also be noted that the top four levels are for fully professional teams. Level 5 has a mixture of professional and semi-professional teams, while Levels 6-10 will see most players paid but it will vary from no more than travel expenses at the bottom, right up to several hundred pounds a week at the top (e.g. clubs in the Conference South).
It should also be noted that the top four levels are for fully professional teams. Level 5 has a mixture of professional and semi-professional teams, while Levels 6-10 will see most players paid but it will vary from no more than travel expenses at the bottom, right up to several hundred pounds a week at the top (e.g. clubs in the Conference South).
MATCH MAP
Yellow pin - Monday fixtures
Green pin - Tuesday fixtures
Yellow pin - Monday fixtures
Green pin - Tuesday fixtures
Turquoise pin - Wednesday fixtures
Orange pin - Thursday fixtures
Claret pin - Friday fixtures
Blue pin - Saturday fixtures
White pin - Sunday fixtures
Orange pin - Thursday fixtures
Claret pin - Friday fixtures
Blue pin - Saturday fixtures
White pin - Sunday fixtures
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