TLFG: 1-6 June 2021

Greetings one and all and welcome to a very minimal offering from me.

Bar a handful of friendlies, there's very little on this week.

However, if you hear of anything else interesting, get in touch.

Last week I went to my first live match for around six months when I went to Bedfont Sports to watch the Capital Women's Cup Final between Actonians and QPR.

As you may have read last week, my daughter plays for Actonians U9s but as a family we support QPR - so my loyalties were very divided.

Actonians play a level above the R's and on balance probably had the better of things. However, they found it hard to make their dominance count and twice get pegged back as the game ended 2-2.

The match then headed straight to penalties and ended up being one of the most dramatic shootouts I've ever seen.

QPR opened a two-goal lead but then blew it so when it came to the fifth penalty it was all square.

Actonians scored theirs meaning that their keeper Paige Horsnell, who sometimes coaches my daughter, just needed to save QPR's final kick to win the match.

QPR win a thrilling Capital Women's Cup Final on penalties

With the ball heading to her right, she got her hands on it and turned it on to the bar only for it to drop down, hit her and go in!

Moving to sudden death, the gutsy Horsnell then got straight up and volunteered to take the next penalty - she leathered the ball only for it to fly over the bar.

This left R's captain Vicky Grieve to calmly roll home her spot-kick to claim the cup for the W12 club.

It was quite a climax to a very entertaining game and I can't wait to see more of both sides next season.

Overall it's been a pretty good week for London football with Chelsea winning the Champions League and Brentford claiming a place in the Premier League via the play-offs (a very tough day for QPR and Fulham fans) - hats off to the latter who have really deserved their crack at the big time. 

In the National League, Bromley won their final game to edge into the play-offs at the expense of Wrexham and now travel to Hartlepool United for a one-legged match on Sunday. The winners go through to a semi-final at Stockport County on 13 June.

Congratulations also go to Tooting & Mitcham United who played three ties in less than a week to win the London Senior Cup, beating AFC Wimbledon 2-1 at Hendon in the final on Monday.

There was joy too for FC Elmstead who claimed the London Senior Trophy on Saturday beating Forest Hill Park by a similar scoreline at Barking.

Well done everyone!

With very little happening before July, other than a few sold out European Championship games at Wembley - I might well take the rest of this month off as there's not much I can really add but we'll see.

Enjoy your week ahead and keep me informed of what you get up to.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The highlights of the next few days include a handful of friendlies - if you hear of anything else being played at stadiums with reasonable spectator facilities, please let me know.

As there are a very limited number of games, I've also included a few games just outside London which can be reached with relative ease on public transport. Some matches are still to be arranged so there could be one or two additions before the weekend.

As always, 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 changed - this is highly possible for some of the lower non-league clubs or youth matches. Also, please let me know if anything is wrong or missing.

Details on all of this week's games can be found on the following match maps. If you've never used them 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 drop down menu at the top of the map page to make sure you get all the information. Games are listed from top to bottom in date order so Monday's games (yellow pin) will appear first and Sunday's (orange pin) last. Games are also ranked in terms of status so the higher the division, the higher up the list they will appear on each day.

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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. However, capacity restrictions are currently in place at all grounds because of Covid-19 meaning only clubs from the seventh tier and below can currently admit spectators.

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.

MIDWEEK MATCH MAP

Tuesday fixtures - green pin

WEEKEND MATCH MAP
Saturday fixtures - blue pin

GET INVOLVED

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 in the London area for this blog then get in touch. I also very much welcome photos of your football travels.

NEED HELP?

Got any questions about visiting London? Don't hesitate to ask - be they football or more general travel/touristy queries. I do not charge for this advice like some other sites so don't hold back!

You can contact TLFG through the comments section below or via Facebook, Twitter or even by good old email.

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