Recreativo Football Club

NEXT MATCH

2012-01-23T12:58:00.000-08:00

RECREATIVO
vs Project Clapham Sundays
Cup Semi-Final
Clapham Common
Sun 19th Feb 1.30pm k.o.

Jeffs Chippy 1-1 RECREATIVO 22.1.12.

2012-01-23T12:50:00.001-08:00

The neutral watching this game might have wondered what Jeff's Chippy are doing in tablebottomland and what Reccy are doing in or around the other end. He or she might have wondered which game the guy in black with the whistle was watching. The neutral watching this game might have wondered when it became OK for a defender to use his arm in the penalty area. The neutral watching this game might have wondered how many times Reccy have to hit the bar before the ball goes under it. He or she might have wondered why half the Reccy boys stopped to wait for a whistle for a foul only to see Chippy's one shot of the second half nearly break the top corner from a very acute angle. The neutral watching this game might have wondered if Reccy could come back from that 80-minute sucker punch only to see Ben rifle in an equaliser with 5 minutes to go.

The neutral watching this game might have searched their rule book to see if persistent cute passive-aggressive questioning of the ref's decisions qualifies for an award under Bafta rules. He or she might have wondered why the wind always seems to blow on Clapham Common and the playing surface feels like a ploughed field, and they might have wondered if that's why the Reccy passing game didn't quite come off for long stretches.

The neutral might have wondered how long Chippy's unlikely run of form will go on ("we're a bit miserable with it" said one of them after the game). Most of all, the neutral watching this game might have wondered what the fuck they were doing watching this game when there's all sorts of entertaining stuff to do on a Sunday these days.

Team: Adam Bradbury, Max Bland, Tomas Winter, Tino Hernandez, Joao Spinola, Joe Haley, Ben Chambers (1), Connor Joseph, Dan Hare, Jimmie Lloyd, Joe Dunthorne, Liam Greenaway

RECREATIVO 4-1 Livingstone Lockers 15.1.11.

2012-01-18T06:39:00.000-08:00

A couple of splendid goals from Aaron and one from Max illuminated an otherwise disjointed performance from Recreativo. A bobbly pitch, low sun and too much christmas probably didn't help.

Livingstone fielded 10 men - although it took some of us the first 45 minutes to realise it - as they packed the midfield and showed flashes of quality on the ball. One isolated striker threatened to embarrass our slowness and indecision. Twice they hit the woodwork and once, to his credit, the number 13 stayed on his feet when a tap to the ankles in the penalty area might have drawn a different reaction from a less sporting side.

Soon enough though Aaron opened up with a deft turn, dribble and shot into the corner. Liam doubled the lead before half time after some sustained pressure and keep-ball by Reccy.

Playing the second half into a sun that hung low on the horizon, you could make out the shape of players but not the colour of their kit. More and more passes went astray. Post christmas legs began to fade.
But a third goal put us at ease and set up the last 15 minutes to be the best of the game - Ben sprinting down the left and putting in a great cross for Aaron to volley in.
Juices started flowing and, inevitably, Livis hit back, but the result never really felt in doubt. Max iced the cake when, seeing the goalie off his line, he executed an impudent lob from near the half way line.

Stand-out performances from Aaron and a hard working Dan Davis.
And Recreativo go rolling on.
This win saw us go top of the league for the first time - by a one-goal goal difference. Squeaky bum time?

Team: Adam Bradbury, Aaron Gayle (2), Max Bland (1), Liam Greenaway (1), Dan Hare, Dan Davis, Joao Spinola, Mario Pisano, Jimmie Lloyd, Joe Dunthorne, Tino Hernandez, Joe Grubb, Ben Chambers

RECREATIVO 4-3 Sloane 18.12.11.

2011-12-18T08:59:00.000-08:00

Adam Bradbury writes:

Tis the season to be Reccy....
We must have been very good boys this week as Santa came up with the number one present on our list.

The King's Road boys were at the Marshes menacingly early in monogrammed livery. Meanwhile the Hackney cru rolled up in customary disarray and missing a few regular reindeer - Joao (Portugal), Ben (knee), Dan (shopping). But we were happy to share the sleigh with David, back from Uni, Tino, back from some place where there's no internet or phone connection, and Connor - back from a visit to hospital having some bad teeth pulled. (Oh the symbolism.)
Turns out he spent the downtime watching videos - not of his past performances, but It's a Wonderful Life and Scrooge - morality tales that show how badly life could turn out if the protagonist were to take a wrong turn.

Well he whose name is Joseph must have chosen the path of righteousness. Yes lord. Not only did he open the scoring after a lovely floated ball from Joe Haley unlocked Sloane's defence; but he effectively sealed a big fat roast parsnip of a win with the goal of the season - a 35-yard free kick that blazed like a shooting star around the wall on which Sloane were hanging their stockings and into the top corner of the net.
And beneath that star, wrapped in a game of skill, pace and relatively little mouth, we found 3 little points.

It was a golden goal that had subs, spectators and some shepherds who'd drifted into the neighbourhood flocking onto the pitch to kneel at Joseph's feet. What's more it re-established our two-goal lead. Not before time too, as a powerful header from a corner gave Sloane their third and showed they're not ones to jump on their donkeys and head for the inn at the first sign of a deficit.

At 3-0 we'd been well in control. But our charitable side (hey, it's Christmas) allowed Sloane's slick passing and pace to leave their footprints in the virgin snow of our advantage.
Charity must have got hold of Nev the ref too. Why else award us a goal for a ball that dropped over the bar and behind the net? It didn't seem in the true spirit of Christmas to accept.

A couple of late tackles saw Liam and Chris join a growing injury list - so the 3-week break ahead is a sweet satsuma in the seasonal stocking. By the time we re-start in January, with big beards and paunches under our red tunics, let's hope Liam is back to the fitness that today saw him occupy the attentions of 3 defenders at a time, as he skipped and sidestepped 50 yards to add a third goal to his and our bulging sack.

Wish it could be christmas every Sunday.

Team:

Max Bland (1), Adam Bradbury, Chris Chambers, Joe Haley, Joe Grubb, Joe Dunthorne, Mario Pisano, David Bent, Tino, Tomas Winter, Liam Greenaway (1), Connor Joseph (2), Jimmie Lloyd, Aaron Gayle.

Sandmere 3-2 RECREATIVO 11.12.11.

2011-12-11T10:05:00.000-08:00

Jimmy Lloyd writes:

Nothing lasts forever then.Our unbeaten record vanished in London’s miserable Deep South with this 3-2 defeat. Reccy have a few ghosts floating around Wandsworth Common — it has been the scene of bumper defeats and grisly rows.

And when we return next year there will be another demon waiting for us after this agonising loss. Everything had looked rosy when Liam buzzed through their defence to poach an early lead. Chance after chance then came and went — we could have been three, four or five up at the break.

Painfully, though, Sandmere hit back to make it 1-1 at half-time. That had been their first shot on target. So, naturally enough, they scored again from their second. A third followed and in the bad old days that would have been curtains for Reccy.But look beyond the score and we were on top. As Richard Keys would have said: We were smashing it.

More chances came, more chances went. Liam hit the post with a brilliant run and shot. Their keeper fumbled and Tom came close.

Then, with five minutes left, it finally came. A lifeline. Reccy have scored some thrilling goals this season, classy efforts more suited to the Nou Camp than Hackney Marshes or Clapham Common. But this one was Sunday League in all its honest beauty. The ball disappeared in a flurry of shins and mud with every player, sub, spectator and Wandsworth resident in the box.

Joao, though, stumbled upon it and prodded past the human shield and over the line. It set up a nerve-jangling finish that saw keeper Joe come up for a throw-in. But Sandmere clung on and the ‘L’ column next to our name finally spluttered into life. Next up is a table-topping clash with Sloane that would have Sky producers reaching for their firework sound effects. But for now we are still smarting from the one that got away in a corner of London that holds painful memories. We could not get back to Hackney quick enough. Shame it took two hours!

TEAM: Joe G, Mario, Joao, Jimmy, Chris C, Aaron, Dan H, Max, Joe H, Ben C, Liam, Adam, Joe D, Tom.

Barking Mad 2-2 RECREATIVO CSSL Cup 4.12.11.

2011-12-05T07:01:00.000-08:00

Joe Dunthorne writes:

Ah Clapham – it wouldn’t normally be a favourite destination but after last week’s rumour of football-related stabbings on the marshes, we’re glad to be in the land of the horrid red chino (Link: http://lookatmyfuckingredtrousers.blogspot.com/). There is, however, an Adam-shaped hole where a leader ought to be, and neither me, Max nor Mario look like making a coup d’etat anytime soon.

After much mumbling and shrugging, we pick a starting line-up, with Connor getting his first start in a while. The possibly pre-teen ref, who makes our youngsters look like veterans, lets us know he won’t abide any backchat.

Throughout the first half, we look like a good side – lots of tasty one-twos, good movement, creativity – but it almost never results in shots on target. Liam looks lonely up front. There’s that feeling, after half an hour of us dominating but with good chances squandered, that they’re probably going to put one past us. Sure enough, they cross the ball in from a free kick and something happens in the box – I have no idea what – and the young ref awards a penalty. Their oldest player, who was moments ago their goalkeeper, shows his maturity and slots it in. 1-0.

Still feeling confident, we continue to pass well but never quite get the breaks. Meanwhile they’re happily hoofing it through the middle and starting to look dangerous. It takes some desperate clearances from Dan and Joao and some fine goalkeeping to keep us in it. A lunging, last ditch tackle from Joe “longest-legs-in-the-league” Dunthorne (that’s what I call myself) blocks what looks like a probable goal.

At half-time the gap in leadership widens as nobody is willing to say who should be substituted. Ben, who’s knee is still playing up, comes off, and is replaced by Dan H.

We seem dozy at the start of the second half and Barking Mad immediately threaten. As we get frustrated with the unintuitive refereeing and our lack of a final ball, tempers fray. Max and Connor both get shirty. I get put in a headlock by their big man. We bring on Mario for Connor who, in a show of supreme team spirit, immediately goes home. Soon enough, a bit of slack marking

off a cross gives them a chance and they are two nil up, with fifteen minutes left to play.

It’s weird – they’ve never seemed like a team we should be losing to – and there’s still a sense that we could

come back from this. It takes a lovely pass from Joe Haley and terrific movement from Aaron before he gets our first goal. Liam runs and picks the ball out of the net for a quick restart. From this point on, Barking Mad start kicking the ball away at free kicks and chatting us up as a distraction technique. Still, we plough on, sending more men forward.

There’s a few gilt-edged chances that go begging and, with just a few seconds on the clock, everyone piles forward. A fantastic, curling cross in – possibly by Max? – puts their defence under pressure and, with everyone standing in the six-yard box like a rush-hour tube carriage, it’s a matter of shin-pinball before the ball appears at my feet as I stand pretty much on their goal line. Not the most challenging finish of my career but certainly one of the most satisfying. 2-2 and the last kick of the game.

There’s some talk of extra time – since it’s a cup game – but most of us agree to override the referee and call it a day. A draw feels like a win. Not our most emphatic performance but results like these go to show that we’ve made a habit out of not losing. Onwards!

Team: Aaron Gayle, Ben Chambers, Chris Chambers, Connor Joseph, Dan H, Dan Davis, Joe Grubb, Joe Dunthorne, Joao Spinola, Liam Greenaway, Mario Pisano, Max Bland, Tomas.

RECREATIVO 6-2 Walthamstow Eagles 27.11.11.

2011-12-02T11:00:00.001-08:00

The highs and lows of Hackney Marshes. The ref joins in our desultory warm-up, camping up the stretches. The opposition go flapping around the marshes til we lure them in with sparrow tweets. As the wind whips across the open space Ben, our lightning on the left, limps out with a wounded wing. Two great goals in the first half from Joe Haley - one a quickly taken free kick, the other a 60 yard run down the left before firing across the goalie - probably mean this cup game has only one outcome. But the young Eagles plug away and make us work for the win. Liam harries and worries and out-jumps the centre back who is twice his height and weight. Big centre back in turn makes some skilful forages forward, threatening to undo us.

A late Eagles substitute adds pace swoop and deft feet. But relentless pecking from Recreativo sees Liam sink his talons into 4 well deserved goals. Eagles show plenty of spirit and lots of promise. It seems strange to be the side with more experience. As we wrap up something nasty kicks off in another game. Police cars and ambulances arrive. Rumours of a stabbing. Sun is nearly down. Mid winter approaches. We're still riding the thermals but with ruffled feathers.

Team: Aaron Gayle, Adam Bradbury, Max Bland, Ben Chambers, Chris Chambers, Joe Dunthorne, Joe Grubb, Joe Haley, Joao Spinola, Dan Hare, Liam Greenaway, Mario Pisano, Uma Ba.

Gary Speed R.I.P.

2011-11-29T08:00:00.001-08:00

A superb tribute by Recreativo U11s manager James Brown on one of his heroes can be read here http://www.sabotagetimes.com/football-sport/gary-speed-an-inspiration/

Recreativo Football Club share the sad sentiments of the world wide football family in remembering this brilliant footballer. xx

RECREATIVO 3-1 Lyric Celtic 20.11.11.

2011-11-21T08:35:00.000-08:00

The signs in the bird entrails on Hackney's mean streets weren't good. Three weeks of staying up late, custard and Resident Evil are perhaps not the best preparation for facing the league leaders and goal machine that are Lyric. A foggy cold morning, beached leaves like unponded goldfish gasping their last. Or tree dandruff. The mellow season really is upon us; and to misquote Woody Allen, the trouble with mellow is that next thing you know you're rotting.

The whiff of a season about to putrefy became the stench of certainty as, trying vainly to hide behind our net, we eyed 15 giants in Celtic hoops stride pitchward preparing to claim their treasure. Mantrap handshakes from hands attached to arms the size of tree trunks whose heads presumably had a good view of the blue sky above the low-lying cloud across Hackney Marshes.

Which Reccy shall we be today? Spring lambs or dozy winter-fat badgers?

Badgers - at least for a bit. Lyric were strong in the tackle, first to the ball and very tall, except the one with the moustache who was normal height. Our attempts to outwit them with a brilliant new routine of running slowly and kicking the air didn't work as well as expected. The ball is in our net after 15 mins and Jimmy sinks to his knees in an impressive re-enactment of Edvard Munch's The Cry - despairing hands clutching (or covering up) fashionable sideburns. The nihilists among us consider wrapping ourselves in blankets of doom and snuggling up in the comfort zone of inevitable defeat.

But this is New Recreativo. Banished from our constitution is Clause 4 - the one that said every time you go one down you have to let in at least 4 more. Now, instead of doom blankets, we don the lambswool pashminas of hope. And with the sun burning off the last of the November mist we feel all frisky again. Abandoned is our tactic of the first 35 minutes, which consisted mainly of aiming the ball at the heads of the opposition defence 50 yards away - presumably on the basis that sooner or later they'd get brain damage and start wondering around like extras from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, at which point we'd disguise the ball as a couple of good-time girls and sneak it into their net. Instead we try kicking the ball to each other. And 10 minutes from half time Joe Haley lets one fly over cuckoo's nest - a glorious 30 yard free kick schwoooming past the despairing hands of Lyric's keeper. Schwooom.

A couple of brilliant tactical changes from Recreativo at half time put us firmly under the cosh again. The ref, apparently full of remorse at giving us all the free kicks in the first half, and hellbent on making his peace with his reffy god, awards all the free kicks in the second half to the team from south of the river. Whatever, his internal struggle keeps both sides on their toes, guessing what today's rules are.

Lyric's scud missiles into our box must surely breach our brave home guard at some point. But somehow they don't. They hit the post, the keeper, the bar, the air just above the bar, the air just to the side of the post. But not the air between the posts, which under Fifa rules is the bit of air the ball has to hit to be considered a goal.

In contrast, our new strategy of passing to each other begins to work surprisingly well. Ben, cutting in from the corner, kicks the ball quite hard in the direction of the goal to see a defender divert it beyond the despairing hands of Lyric's keeper. More cloud-based activity in our goal mouth produces nothing of more lasting bother than some harsh words from the enemy mostly aimed at their own misfortune. And suddenly the returning Dunthorne sets Gayle off running (like the wind) down the right and firing low past the despairing hands of Lyric's keeper.

In recent years this fixture has proved a turning point in our fortunes. Last year, just for example, we went 6 games unbeaten before playing Lyric, then 7 without a win. As the marsh mist rolled back onto the marshes like a retractable roof being de-retracted at a ground where they have a retractable roof, we wandered around like extras from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on a fishing trip. Trying to remember what it's like to lose (we can live quite happily without being reminded, thank you.) Lyric's keeper meanwhile went off to see a motiovational spiritualist about his hands...

Team: Joe Grubb, Jimmy Lloyd, Mario Pisano, Joao Spinola, Adam Bradbury, Max Bland, Joe Dunthorne, Ben Chambers, Chris Chambers, Dan Hare, Joe Haley, Aaron Gayle, Liam Greenaway, Umar Ba.

Ladzio 0-5 RECREATIVO 23.10.11.

2011-10-28T03:36:00.001-07:00

Man City fans think they saw some quality today. They should have been on Clapham Common.

Two snapshots.

1. A lofted 40 yarder clears our midfield. With a burly forward bearing down on him Joao adjusts his feet and cushions a volley with the outside of his boot. The ball travels no more than 5 yards, exactly into the path of our left back. Ladzio's centre forward shakes his head. "What a pass. What a pass."

2. Joe Haley picks up the ball around the centre circle, beats a couple of players, stops, turns, puts on a burst of speed, steps over, stops. He appears to be dithering. Takes the ball wide, stops. "Get on with it," some of us shout. And after what seems like an age he makes a simple, perfectly weighted pass to Max who sidefoots beyond the keeper. Five nil.

Is this the end of huff 'n puff hoof-it football?

We certainly grafted in the first half. Dan Hare was outstanding in front of the back four, tackling, taking them on, and distributing brilliantly. Our early goal did nothing to dampen Ladzio's confidence for the first 45 minutes. But we tackled hard and in numbers so that by half time the home side had had just one shot and we'd held onto or slim lead.

In the second half someone sprinkled a bit of fairy dust over pitch 4. Four more goals and no yellow or red cards. What's going on? How long will this form last? Who knows, but while it's good you have to enjoy. Because winning floods the brain with can-do chemicals. Suddenly the sky seems bluer, the grass greener, the autumn leaves purer gold. Suddenly the wheels of your bike turn of their own accord, the people you glide past in the street seem more beautiful, the eyes of the kids playing on the cobblestones seem wider, their game with hoop and stick more carefree.

Then the Lucozade wears off and there's a smelly kit to be washed and work to get up for tomorrow.

Team: Ashley Goalie, Joao Spinola, Chris Chambers, Adam Bradbury, Paul Cowie (Tino Hernandez), Dan Hare (Umar Ba), Joe Haley, Aaron Gayle, Ben Chambers, Max Bland, Liam Greenaway.

RECREATIVO 3-1 Rio 16.10.11.

2011-10-17T05:16:00.001-07:00

Western art, literature and drama are blessed with great works that riff on the theme of dual personalities. The good and bad angels sitting on our shoulders. Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hide, Dr Frankenstein and his misunderstood monster, Nosferatu, Batman the list goes on. Suave sophisticates by day, foaming at the mouth flesh eaters when the red mist descends.

So Recreativo can look forward to being immortalised by some genius of stage or screen who will present - for a wider audience than we currently enjoy - the beauty and the beast that is our Sunday afternoon muse. One minute we are spinning gold out of a pigs bladder and grass, the next heads are turning all the way round and throwing up green stuff. One minute Russell is performing miracles in the penalty area, plucking the ball from the toe of an advancing striker, the next some evil sprite is squaring up to a giant from the other side. Beauty abounds in the 15 passes that lead to goal number 3, in the leap that sees Liam, the smallest player on the pitch, out-jump Rio's towering defence, in the stout tackling and honourable chasing all over the field of newcomer Chris Chambers. But even when the game is all but won, the beast strikes a match and lights the shortest of fuses on the pitch, and mouths agape, we watch the rocket that was our right back have himself fired out of the ground and into the outer circle of football hell. Oh cursed is man to possess such gifts and yet be possessed by such gaffs. Oh plonker.

One day someone - Stuart Hall maybe - will write an opera about Recreativo and its dual personality. But til then we're going to try to keep our sunny sides up.

Team: Aaron Gayle 1, Liam Greenaway 2, Max Bland, Joe Haley (John Mcguighan), Adam Bradbury (Dan Hare), Chris Read (Joao Spinola), Chris Chambers, Ben Chambers, Connor Joseph, Jimmy Lloyd.

Ballivia 0-1 RECREATIVO (Cup) 9.10.11.

2011-10-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

Jimmy Lloyd reports: 1-0? It could almost have been a real game of football. Pity it didn’t look like one as both teams ending up playing in a mish-mash of t-shirts and jumpers.

Reccy — away at the Marshes — arrived in maroon only to be told that Ballivia also wear a red strip.

It wasn’t strictly true — they’d just each brought their own different tops. But it still meant we had to scramble together a mix of white, grey and black tees.

The result was shouts like "mark Liverpool" — and, in Joe H’s case, "pick up the hoodie".

Reccy controlled the first half yet could have easily gone in behind.

First, the ref blew up for a foul which was well in our box — only to bizarrely give a free-kick back outside the area. Then, with their striker played through and lining up a shot, Russell came charging out and scared him off.

Liam hit the winner shortly after the break. Yet Reccy might have got lucky again with rumours going round that he was five yards offside.

Late on, Connor was sent off for two yellow cards — both for talking back to the ref, who briefly threatened to abandon the game.

(Connor even tried to start on the weather by shouting "fucking wind!" after his goal-kick looped up in the air).

Reccy survived with ten men — Tom, in particular, played a blinder, including one crucial hoof off the line — to make it two cup wins out of two. And a proper football score to boot.

So who knows? It might just be time to get Chas ’n Dave on the case and get that song done.

Team: Russell Smith, Tom Winter, Jimmy Lloyd, Dan Davies, Ben Chambers, Chris Chambers, Joe Haley, Max Bland, Aaron Gayle, Liam Greenaway (1), Dan Hare.

RECREATIVO 5-4 Lyric Celtic 2.10.11.

2011-10-04T05:31:00.000-07:00

Hot. Dry. Very hot. Pitch in good shape. Ball in bad shape. Ball pump in even worse shape. Chris's head in worse shape still. Hot and dry. But it's the Cup - where fairytales are written. Chris turns in a princely job in goal, keeping us 2-1 in the lead to half time with an athletic tip over the bar. Swashbuckling performances from Liam, Joe, Aaron, Max and Ben again in midfield see us cruising at 4-1 with half an hour to go. We should score more but a well-drilled Lyric, like the wicked witch, lure our kids in for the sweeties only to spring the offside trap again and again. We get a fifth, then all of a sudden we fall into a deep slumber and Lyric start stealing our treasure. We are relieved to hear the huntsman's horn just seconds after Lyric, growing in adventure, get a fourth.

Another 10 mins and that lead could have vanished like Handsel's breadcrumb trail. All the way through the game there's an older guy standing on the touchline with the branch of a tree in his hand. Is he hiding behind it, or using it as a linesman's flag? Maybe he has some magic beans to swap. Maybe the heat got to us.

Team: Adam Bradbury, Aaron Gayle (1), Liam Greenaway (1), Joe Haley (1), Ben Chambers (2), Max Bland, Dan Hare, Chris Read, Russell Smith, Jimmie Lloyd, Jake, Paul Cowie, Mario Pisano, Connor Joseph.

Clapham Alexandra 2-8 RECREATIVO 25.9.11.

2011-09-28T07:06:00.001-07:00

This was a turn-up for the books. Somehow we'd got into our heads that Clapham Alex won the league last season. A bit of psychology worth remembering. Somehow we'd got it into our heads that you don't need to leave time to change or warm up. we arrive 10 minutes late, with Mario the Kit trailing another 5 mins behind. So we're a bit surprised to find ourselves camped in the opposition half for much of the first 45 mins.

Chances aplenty go begging. We feel we will rue them as our keeper makes 2 outstanding saves. we're 2 up at half time and expecting the balance to tip with the change of ends, facing into the wind and up the hill. Sure enough we concede a silly goal inside a minute. Here we go. But a brilliant tactical substitution pushes Max into the lone striker role where he promptly scores five. He's supplemented by goals from Aaron, Joe Haley and Liam. Clapham are unlucky to go down to 10 men through injury but going forward some of our play has a silky intelligence that's good to be amongst. Brilliant performances from Liam, Aaron, Joe and of course the gilded booted Bland. Solid start from Thomas. More surprises like this please.

Team: Adam Bradbury, Aaron Gayle, Joe Grubb, Russell Smith, Mario Pisano, Thomas Winter, Joe Haley (1) Ben Chambers (1) Max Bland (5) Liam Greenaway (1) Jake, Jimmie Lloyd.

RECREATIVO 3-3 Jeffs Chippy 18.9.11.

2011-09-21T06:13:00.000-07:00

Mario Pisano reports: After frantic negotiations with agents to bring in fresh blood to the club, Adam managed to recruit three new faces before the dealine expired. A new goalkeeper (Joe), a centre half (Rob) and a midfield player (Dan).

A few words from Adam before the game about playing the ball on the ground and not hoofing it, seemed to have sunk in, as we started the game with some good football.

There aren't enough superlatives to describe my 1st half performance, just to say it was Messi(esc) and also showed I'm a team player by letting myself be substituted so that Dan could have a run out and to see what he was made of.

As the game progressed, it was obvious, that the Hackney boys hadn't taken my advice to attend 'Anger management' classes during the off season, but some did manage to find themselves WAGS, who came out to watch us and make sarcastic comments when they felt their boyfriends were being wronged by the opponents.

Two of our goals were well taken after some fine attacking play by the Hackney boys. The penalty came about when Ben tried a Rooney(esc) style 'shinner' and the ref felt he was impeded while in flight.

The penalty was so well struck by Joe that even though their goalkeeper got a hand to it, it still bulged the back of the net.

This was a game we should have won, Joe in goal, made some fine saves and seemed commanding on corners. Jeffs Chippy's goalkeeper wasn't to be outshone and also made some fine saves, but if the Hackney boys were as ruthless in front of goal as they are when answering back to the ref, we would have won the game. The case in point being when Liam, who was outstanding all game and seemed to go past their defenders at will, collected the ball, out sprinted their defender, went around the goalkeeper and with the gaping goal at his mercy, decided to do a 'Balotelli' and back heel the ball into the net, but he din't hit the ball hard enough giving the defender time to clear it.

It was 3-2 for a long time and the final whistle couldn't come soon enough, but a mistake at the back allowed Jeffs Chippy to equalise. It was a game we should have won as we were the better side.

Team: Joe, Aaron, Ben Chambers, Chris (Adam), Connor Joseph, Joe Haley, Liam Greenaway, Mario Pisano (Dan), Max Bland, Russ, Rob.

Super Cup Draw

2011-08-06T02:47:00.001-07:00

We have been drawn into group A along with Lyric Celtic, Barking Mad, Walthamstow Eagles and another un-named team. First Cup match is on Sunday 2nd Oct at home to Lyric Celtic.

RECREATIVO 1-3 Clapham Alexandra 10.4.11.

2011-04-12T04:16:00.000-07:00

The last game of a topsy turvy season was a heads-down serious team effort with a proper football scoreline. We spent much of the 90 minutes pressing forward with some of the lovely intricate play that has characterised our best moments of this campaign, and hard tackling in defence. But missing a few key players at the back we were eventually vulnerable to the lanky reach of Clapham's number 88. A deft chipped goal from Liam was by no means our only effort - and the final 1-3 scoreline flattered Clapham's ambition if not their finishing.

So that's it til September. Most of us will be back for more in the sunshine, rain, wind, and hail. (The powers that be don't seem to let us play in the snow these days.) The famous mauve kit is beginning to look a bit threadbare, new balls wouldn't go amiss and the coffers need replenishing. But the main thing in the closed season is for someone to read up on how not to take foul throws.

Team: Chris Read, David Dike, Liam (1), Aaron Gale, Max Bland, Benson Chambers, Connor Joseph, Jimmie Lloyd, Umar Ba, Joe Haley, Mario Pisano, Adam Bradbury.

RECREATIVO 6-5 Ladzio 3.4.11.

2011-04-05T06:01:00.001-07:00

Back to the Marshes - home sweet home. Chance for revenge for last weeks gallant maulling by Ladzio
"We' ll show them", "they wont know what hit'em", "wheres the kit?", "who's got the bloody kit bag?"... "where the f**ks Mario?".
Chris and Russ take over the running and logistics this week with no Adam present: God help Reccy.
Connor-" I'm the captain"
Russell- "You're not the captain".
Connor-"Yes I f***ing am."

Russell- " No youre not" .
Connor - "Why?" .
Oh Connor Connor Connor, if only I had time to list the amount of reasons why you can't be captain.
Finally Mario arrives and every one gets kitted up. No time for a warm up. The early forays look good and before we have time to think Aaron slots home a sweeping move down the right. Sweet.
Then came a magical Mario moment. Joao lays him off down the right and as he approaches the byline he lets fly a forty yard lob over the keeper and into the top corner. Now I heard a few suggestions of an intended cross but frankly if roberto carlos had done it no one would have said a thing.
We knew we were in a game when they knocked in a corner with a super header and then Paul struggled off injured. On came Liam and caused trouble straight away. But as half time approached we let in an equalizer.
The second half was a mixture of the sublime and the sort of in fighting that saw our season fail to fulfil its true potential. Liam hit a great goal. We had the lead - Connner decided to lie on the grass while the game ebbed around him for 5 minutes. A strange tactic but it nearly worked until Ladzio got a lucky penalty and again levelled the scores. Russell pulled a high high swirling ball out of the heavens, laid it off to Umar who initiated a wonderful move down the left culminating in a beautifully carved goal. Two more came in quick succession and the 3 points appeared safe. But not for Reccy! Ever-capable of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory we turned on eachother like a pack of hyenas. Even the man of iron Joao was shouting and cursing (mostly at Russell, who hid his fear well).The youngsters dug deep and defended hard. The smallest man on the pitch, Joe, won everything in the air against a trio of eight foot tall giants. Umar nearly broke legs with the ferocity of his tackles. Superb. But a penalty and another goal - 6-5 and thankfully the final whistle blew. Joao was still like a hurricane of fury until someone pointed out that we had actually won the game and he had just lost count. Hooray!

Chris Read , Paul, Joao Spinola, Russell Smith, Mario Pisano, Umar Ba , Joe Dunthorne, Benson Chambers, Connor Joseph, Aaron Gayle, Max bland, Liam Greenaway.

Ladzio 5-2 RECREATIVO 27.3.11.

2011-04-01T09:28:00.000-07:00

Two weeks later I'm being asked to remember the game. If only I wasnt such a raving alcoholic I may be able to recall something, but alas it is no good. Ask Mario: he works for the Sun- but no- you'll end up with aliens landing at half time and Elvis scoring a hatrick . Was that Escape to Victory? My memory fails me again.
There were some goals. Mostly not by us i think. 3-0 down very early- and then a stirring fightback ?

Our young players prove they have a backbone and let studs fly like bullets in Rambo 4. Two good/ average/ scrambled goals? scored by liam / ben / someone? hmm - I realise this is not such an accurate report and my next career move probably wont be taking over from gary lineker on match of the day.
We fought hard - I remember that much. I shouted "Russell's ball!" a hell of a lot - which I like doing. I even got complimented on my shouting by an opponent. Alas we didn't find the equaliser and a fourth goal sealed the points for Ladzio. Apparently it was 5- 2 but I cant remember a fifth. That is not proof that there wasn't one, you might suspect.

Team: Chris Read, Paul, Umar B , Russel Smith , Mario Pisano, Elvis Presley , President Obama , Joao Spinola , Joe Haley, Benson Chambers (Jake/Luke?), Liam Greenaway, Aaron Gayle, Tino.

RECREATIVO vs Livingstone Academicals 13.3.11. (Livingstone unable to fufil fixture, points to Recreativo)

2011-03-19T03:42:00.000-07:00

The Gods conspired against us again this weekend. Livingstone were unable to put out a side. For us, another sunday afternoon of Sky Sports, sunday newspapers, gardening and trips to B&Q.

RECREATIVO-Rio Kaiserslautern (Rio unable to put out team, points to Recreativo) 13.3.11.

2011-03-13T08:07:00.000-07:00

8.50pm Saturday night, glass of wine in hand, feet up watching 'Boardwalk Empire' and received the following text message: 'Jimmie, really sorry for the short notice, but had five cancellations today so can't put a team out, not to make a game of it. Been on the phone all day! The points are yours if you want them, but we'd be happy to pay the expenses to replay the game. Always good to play if we can. Let me know you got this text anyway. Cheers Olly, Rio'.

Took the points, filled up another glass and went back to Nucky Johnson and his crew flickering from the large HD telly in the corner.

Jeffs Chippy 1-2 RECREATIVO 6.3.11.

2011-03-07T06:20:00.000-08:00

A work of friction.

The day after World Book Night and Recreativo's hard working authors are off finishing difficult second novels or sexing up maths in the Lake District. So it's up to the rest of us to write the script. Chapter 1, in which a goal is scored by the scampering home team, numerous opportunities to do so are spurned or repulsed, very naughty boys from each side are dismissed from the field in disgrace following fisticuffs, a goal of pure ugliness is scored the away side, eye-catching swallow dives are executed in the Reccy penalty area by the Hosts and 'the ref' confounds the entire cast with cameos of arm waving oddness that, this writer suggests, would sit as happily with a Sadlers Wells Interpretive Dance Workshop as a Sunday afternoon on Clapham Common.
Chapter 2, in which the tranquillity of large areas of the pitch, unattended by tiring legs, is shattered repeatedly by cries of 'Russel's Ball', a rather more convincing case for a penalty to the hosts goes unappeased (oh how the undeserving are rewarded for their earlier skullduggery), Chris Read It and Weep puts a full stop to not one, but two dead certain goals and the denouement is saved for the final paragraph - a Reccy goal from all things a corner kick, to squeeze victory from the sphincter of defeat.

Man-booker prize, the ref naturally.

Pull(the other one)Itzer(got bells on) Prize: Marine Boy (diving).

Team: Chris Read, Adam Bradbury, Joao Spinola, Joe Haley, Max Bland, Connor Joseph, Umar Ba, Benson Chambers, Aaron Gayle, Liam Greenaway, Russell Smith, Mario Pisano, Jimmy Lloyd.

RECREATIVO 2 -1 Lyric Celtic 27.2.11.

2011-02-27T02:16:00.001-08:00

"How come you've got so many youngsters and they've got so many grown-ups?", mused Neville the ref before kick off. Which sounded a bit like 'You'll never win anything with kids'.

Only one adjective for this win. Massive. Lyric are top and were the first team to beat us this season. And mature.

Tactically we got it right and worked hard. And freezing. The day started like Spring but with kick off the hail kicked in - we had to get the subs on just to stop the hypothermia setting in. And close: it could of gone either way, with chances at both ends.
Like a less interesting game on the telly this afternoon, it was settled with a goalkeeping error. Alright, four adjectives. Massive, mature, cold and finely balanced. We are a great big ice-berg and if you don't watch out we're going to sink your boat.

Team: Adam Bradbury, Joao Spinola, Joe Haley, Max Bland, Paul Cowie, David Dike, Connor Joseph, Umar Ba, Benson Chambers, Liam Greenaway, Chris Read, Joe Dunthorne.

RECREATIVO 9-2 The Llamas 20.2.11.

2011-02-21T08:54:00.000-08:00

Where am I? It's like jumping off the runway death train. A fry-up after a hangover. Seeing Radiohead after Muse. Bob Dylan after Donovan. The sun coming up after monmths of night. A sugar lump after medicine. Walking barefoot on grass after sharp stones. Plunge pool after a sauna. Colour telly after black and white. Custard after cabbage. We've woken up and we're finding it hard to remember what it was like to be asleep.
Team: Adam Bradbury, Joao Spinola, Joe Haley, Max Bland, Paul Cowie, David Dike, Connor Joseph, Umar Ba, Benson Chambers, Jimmy Long, Aaron Gayle, Liam Greenaway, John Megaughin, Chris Read.

Sloane FC 6-1 RECREATIVO 13.2.11.

2011-02-13T10:15:00.000-08:00

The real poser of the weekend was this: 30° or 40°?

I mean 30 is better for the environment but the shirts are muddy so... fuck it, we all recycle, 40° it is.

Shirts first, followed by shorts and socks in two separate loads.

Weighed up stealing some of my flatemate’s fabric softener – but then realised we can’t run out on the Marshes smelling of Summer Lillies or Roman Fog.

All in it takes up two clothes horses to dry – but it’s done by Monday afternoon and the bag is packed by Tuesday. It’s a slick operation.

Oh, and we lost 4, 5, maybe 6-1. It changes every time I tell anyone – by the end of the week it’ll probably be 1-1.

Team: Chris Read, Mario Pisano (Paul), Jimmy Lloyd, Joe Haley, Adam Bradbury, Connor Joseph, Aaron Gayle (John Megaughin), Max Bland, Umar Ba, David Dike.

Barking Mad 1-0 RECREATIVO 23.1.11.

2011-01-26T08:52:00.000-08:00

Waiting for Goal-o. A play in two halves.

Act one: A common. To the right a tree with three leaves. Reckymon sits on a mound pulling at his boot. He gives up, exhausted, rests, tries again. As before.

Enter Hackneymon

Reckymon: Nothing to be done.

Hackneymon: (advancing with short, stiff strides). I'm beginning to come round to that opinion.

For weeks we've tried to put it away, saying Hackneymon, be reasonable, you haven't yet tried everything. And we resumed the struggle. (He broods, musing on the struggle.)

R: So here we are again.

H: Yes.

R: What are we here for?

H: We're waiting for Goal-o.

R: Do you think it'll come?

H: I don't know. Will you recognise it if it does?

R: Will you?

H: It's been a long time.

R: Will it come if I do this with the back of my heel?

H: Surely.

R: Or if I just kick very hard?

H: It used to work.

R: And this? If I twist and turn like this.

H: Ah how we used to twist and turn. Let me watch you. I will stand still.

R: And watch me?

H: Yes, I will watch you.

R: And sometimes jump?

H: We could both jump at the same time.

R: What would be the point of that?

H: I don't know. It might cheer us up.

R: And we could try shouting.

H: At what?

R: At each other. Or at him over there, the one waving his arms.

H: Or we could run about a lot.

R: All in the same direction?

H: Or different directions.

R: But at the same time?

H: If you wish.

R: Will Goal-o come if we run fast? Or if we just look like we're running fast.

H: I don't know. Perhaps we should stand still. Like this, arm in arm. Like a wall. (They stand arm in arm)

H: Oh, what was that? Was that Goal-o?

R: It might have been. I couldn’t see. Who can we ask?

H: The one over there waving his arms. Like a fanatic.

R: The one with the whistle?

H: Yes him. He's been watching us for a long time.

R: But why? We haven't been doing anything.

Act two. A common. The tree is to the left, and there are no leaves on it.

R: Here again. Things will be better this time. You'll see.

H: What is there to be done?

R: We are waiting.

H: Oh yes. Waiting for Goal-o.

R: We'll try harder this time. Do you think it'll come?

H: Yes I think so.

R: When?

H: I don’t know. Soon.

R: Meanwhile, we could hang ourselves. We have our laces.

H: Let’s not yet. We would miss Goal-o.

R: True.

H: And at least we have each other.

R: Yes, at least we have each other.

End

The players: Aaron Gayle, Joe Haley, Adam Bradbury, Joe Dunthorne, Joao Spinola, Max Bland, Marcus du Sautoy, Chris Read, Ben Chambers, Mario Pisano, Jeremy, David Dike, Liam Greenaway.

Sandmere 8-1 RECREATIVO 16.1.11.

2011-01-16T10:39:00.001-08:00

Full marks to everyone who made it to Wandsworth Common, one of them 'muddy fields somewhere in South London' that we've found ourselves at over the past eight seasons. The dressing rooms are locked, the groundsman says all games are off because of the weather, there's no nets and you can barely make out the lines on the pitch. However, we are determined to play the game, borrow some nets from another team and kick off on a rapidly deteriorating pitch. Let's be honest with ourselves, we were beaten quite easily by a far better team today. Every attempted Recreativo clearance was scuffed and fell at the feet of a charging Sandmere attacker. We got nowhere near their goal but for long range efforts and by the time we got our only goal in the second half, we were 5-nil down anyway. They may of scored eight, or seven or six, we weren't really sure what the score was at the end. It probably didn't really matter. It felt a very long car journey home.
Team: Chris Read, Mario Pisano, Joao Spinola, Marcus du Sautoy, Jimmie Gregory (John Megaughin), Ben Chambers, Joe Haley, Adam Bradbury, Aaron Gayle, Max Bland, Connor Joseph.
Just a quick footnote: I played my final game for Recreativo Football Club today. A tearful goodbye to the anticipation, excitement, chaos, pain and joy that sunday football brings. Thanks to all the lads who made Recreativo such a massive part of my life. You know who you are. Jimmie G.

Shepherds Tuesday 2-1 RECREATIVO 12.12.10.

2010-12-12T09:46:00.000-08:00

We warmly greet our old keeper, now playing for Shepherds, outside the dressing rooms. He's holding his shoulder having just got over a traffic accident and already looks in pain before he's even got his kit on. "We'll be easy on you today", we joke, wondering just how many goals we'll put into his net.

We put out a strong side, the pre-match banter good, spirits up and confidence bursting out from everywhere. But what should have been a game of goals galore and a rampaging Recreativo becomes a match that we simply can't get hold of. Two equal sides, but only one it seems that can actually score a goal.
Frustrated, some of the players barrack the opposition, the ref, or each other and some of us just simply can't wait to be home and away from this load of bollocks, vowing not to come back in the new year. The xmas drinks fizzle out into nothing, a load of cuckolded blokes scurry home and the dirty kit gets chucked in the car boot where it can remain for the remainder of the xmas break. Happy Christmas.

Team: James Humphreys, Marcus du Sautoy (John Megaughin), Joao Spinola, Chris Read (Russell Smith), Tino (Mario Pisano), Benson Chambers, Joe Haley (Aaron Gayle), Adam Bradbury, Connor Joseph, Max Bland, Liam Greenaway.

RECREATIVO p-p Ladzio 5.12.10.

2010-12-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

Match postponed - frozen pitch

Livingstone Academicals 5-0 RECREATIVO 28.11.10.

2010-11-28T11:39:00.000-08:00

The Recreativo Party is over. Gatecrashed, ransacked, smashed. Pillaged by a group of suave sassy French boys, the balloons popped, the drinks stolen, the celebrations brought to an abrupt halt. How did we dare believe for one minute that we were going to win the league, or at least give it a bloody good go? On an absolutely frozen Regents Park pitch, we were taken apart, made to look bloody fools.

It wasn't a good start, a flat tyre on the car five minutes before heading off. Then the realization that we'd forgotten half the kit. A rock solid pitch and a knob head refereeing in a pair of shades.
The strikers moaned about the defence, the defence moaned about the strikers and well, everybody always moans about the poor midfield! 3-0 down at half time, we pressed a lot harder in the second half. However, Livingstone's keeper only had long range efforts to deal with. And that was that. We are absolutely brilliant one week, then fall apart the next. One minute we're all dancing, all singing, inviting our mates to the league winners party. The next it feels like mum and dad have got home early, turned on the lights and told everybody to fuck off home. We grabbed our coats and got out quick.
Team: James Humphreys, Mario Pisano (John Megaughin), Chris Read, Joe Haley, Jimmie Gregory (Tino), Benson Chambers, David Dike, Aaron Gayle, Connor Joseph, Max Bland, Liam Greenaway.

Rio Kaiserslautern 1-0 RECREATIVO 14.11.10.

2010-11-15T08:44:00.000-08:00

Adam Bradbury writes....

Mid-way through the second half of this hard-fought and good-tempered match a low-flying jumbo jet appeared to be struck by lightning directly above the pitch. The thunder clap stopped everything - players and ref glance up, and cockatoos that bring an exotic din to this corner of Putney fall silent. We picture the November drizzle turning to burning debris, black box recorder hauled from a crater in the centre circle. Then the engines roar, the plane goes on its way and Recreativo get back to defending the oncoming squall that is Rio Kaiserslauten.

Infact we gave as good as we got. On a pitch that feels like it's sliding into the Thames, and despite the absence of club captain Jimmie, we defended with passion and attacked with invention for 89 minutes, the Rio number 13 making most of the trouble with deft flicked headers from Delap-style throws. We repelled more corners and free kicks but the Rio keeper had more to do than our own - Joe Dunthorne drawing a great reaction save from a header and Liam constantly scurrying, chipping and testing.

With 20 minutes to go Joao pulled a muscle and had to leave the field. We'd used all our subs. The ref, a gent, talked Rio into allowing us to roll a player back on, and engines on full thrust we went at it again, Max hitting the inside of the post with a looping, swerving 30-yarder, Connor winning everything down the left, Benson terrorising with his pace.

A late corner saw the ball prodded out of James's hands into the air. For the second time in the game we stop and look up. The ball hangs in the air. We freeze, expecting a whistle. The ball drops, a Rio foot swings, ball in net. Mayday, mayday. Dead crow on the touchline. Blank faces. It's started to rain again.

Team: James Humphreys, Joe Dunthorne, Mario Pisano (Tino), Joao Spinola (Adam Bradbury), Adam Bradbury (John McGaughin), Joe Haley, Aaron Gayle, Benson Chambers, David (Connor Joseph), Max Bland, Liam Greenaway.

RECREATIVO 3-1 Jeffs Chippy 7.11.10.

2010-11-07T09:31:00.000-08:00

Barcelona could have turned up at the Marshes today and we would have beaten them. After last week's shocker, we were determined more than ever to get back on track. It really didn't matter who we played. And what a game! Nil-nil at half time, it felt like a proper game of football! No silly rugby scores this week, just two very good sides taking part in an extremely exciting match, no handbags, no bullshit, no bad tackles.
Top marks to the team's defending throughout the game. We couldn't remember the last time we successfully defended ten corners in one half without conceding, but we kept Chippy out like our lives depended on it. Liam charged back, pouncing onto any loose ball like a man possessed, setting up another Reccy counter attack. Joe D was the top man in the first half, volunteering for goalkeeper duty and putting in a fantastic shift between the sticks (could possibly be the answer to Arsenal's ongoing goalkeeper problem?).

With the wind behind us in the second half, we tore through Jeff's Chippy, Ben grabbing two well taken goals. David (playing only his second game for the team) made an unstoppable charge down the left wing, drove a low ball across the box and Liam duly smashed it home to give us a comfortable win.
A big pat on the back for Jeff's Chippy who proved to be a decent bunch of lads and contributed to one of the most enjoyable games that we had played in for sometime. So, Recreativo are flying again, spirits are up and everyone's happy. Next up, Rio, in Wandsworth Park. Let's be 'aving ya...

Team: Joe Dunthorne, Marcus du Sautoy (John Megaughin), Adam Bradbury, Joao Spinola, Jimmie Gregory (Tino), Benson Chambers, Aaron Gayle, Joe Haley, David Arsenal, Liam Greenaway, Max Bland.

The Llamas 8-0 RECREATIVO 31.10.10.

2010-10-31T11:14:00.000-07:00

We had wondered if to drag out the Plague cart for this one, turn up on Halloween at every player's home with the cry of "Bring out yer dead!". So many had called in sick or been spirited away by work and family. One minute we have a squad list that goes on forever, the next we're left scratching around for anyone with a pair of football boots.

Come to Clapham. For a shit day out. Get thrashed. Covered in mud. Kicked and pushed around. Argue with your own team mates. Call the ref a prick. Then go home with the biggest bag you can carry full of filthy stinking muddied up football kit.
A little piece of Recreativo died today. This new season's rollercoaster ride came sliding off the rails big time. Crash, bang, slip and slide all the way back to Hackney with our tails between our legs. You know how bad it is when for the first time ever we did not stop for Kits Kats at the Esso garage on the way home.

Not even the new HD telly sitting proudly in the corner of the front room could take the pain away when arriving home. Nor the lentil and bacon casserole, the rioja or winter fruit crumble. The rest of the evening was ruined by the manic urge to take the kit, the footballs, the pump, the adaptors, the goal nets, the brown fucking sticky tape, the shin pads, the football boots, the spare studs, the first aid kit, the Deep Heat, the Recreativo t-shirts and set the whole fucking lot on fire. And that's exactly what I did! Mwhahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha......*

Team: James Humphreys, Mario Pisano, Chris Read, Joe Haley, Jimmie Gregory (John Megaughin), Benson Chambers, Jeremy (Adril), Aaron Gayle, Tino (David), Max Bland, Liam Greenaway.

*denotes events that may not necessarily have happened, but are purely fantasies of a very worn down football manager. See ya sunday at Hackney Marshes.

RECREATIVO 13-1 Sloane 17.10.10.

2010-10-17T09:59:00.001-07:00

The Marshes look simply breath taking today. Gorgeous green flat pitches seem to stretch on forever, bathed in glorious autumnal sunshine. Us early arrivals laid out the kit, pumped the balls and sorted the nets as various players turned up, everyone eager to begin this top of the table clash. Sloane grabbed a couple of ringers from the sidelines of the Asian league match on the adjoining pitch - who turned out to possibly be their best players. As always, the team were well up for this one, Max screaming for every ball, desperate for that Golden Boot and big fat cheque promised by the management for the first player to reach 20 goals.

It was one way traffic to be honest, Max bagging four, Connor on a hat-trick, Liam two, Benson and Russell grabbing a goal a piece, an o.g. and even this here blogger, ahem, smashing in a 30 yarder (first time I remember crossing the halfway line in two seasons, but the goal will be burnt into my memory for years!).

Played six. Scored 41. Every goal celebrated in it's unique style. Liam crosses himself, points to the heavens and dedicates it to his lost nearest and dearest. Max waves his shirt round his head. Adam just looks stunned and confused and I almost wet myself! This season has been simply fantastic so far. A mixed group of lads who give their all for Recreativo Football Club every sunday afternoon, going all out hell for leather to bring home some silverware this time round. Keep up like this and surely this time the league cup will come to Hackney Marshes, the heart of grass roots football. We will be giving it a go.

Team: Russell Smith, Mario Pisano (Marcus du Sautoy), Joao Spinola, Chris Read, Joe Dunthorne (Tino), Connor Joseph, Adam Bradbury (Joe Haley), Aaron Gayle (Jimmie Gregory), Benson Chambers, Max Bland, Liam Greenaway.

Lyric Celtic 4-3 RECREATIVO 10.10.10

2010-10-10T09:42:00.000-07:00

Another away day. Great, let someone else worry about nets and refs and dressing rooms and all that. We've been on a roll and headed down to Clapham with nothing but three points on our minds, confident and a little cocky after last week's mauling of Barking. Maybe a little too cocky infact, as we struggled in the first half. With the wind against us it became apparent that Lyric were playing long balls to the big fella up front, strong physical football, big players, long throws a la Stoke...not pretty, but it certainly worked for them. We were second to every ball with free-kicks, throws and passes all going long in and around our box.
Our passing game paid early dividends with Ben taking on a nice through ball, skipping past two defenders and rolling the ball into the net. 1-0. But Lyric stepped up the pressure, aided and abetted by a nervous referee. The stiffening breeze carried the ball high into our box for two goals back. It's been a while since we were losing so maybe it was the shock that got to us as we first froze while a corner dropped into our box and we failed to clear and then a very dubious penalty was awarded against us.
4-1 down at half time. Not so long ago we would have given up. But a new spirit within the club has emerged since the end of last season. We went out in the second half determined that we could grab this game back in our favour. Goals from Connor and Adam brought it back to 4-3, but every effort in the last 20 minutes seemed to miss by inches. Joe had a goal disallowed for offside, but we kept pressing hard until the end. And so the first defeat of the season. It felt horrible, but it was close and in truth brought us down to earth. We will have to work a little harder, but our title challenge will soon be back on track.

We packed up and headed home, the banter in the car revolving around guessing who may be gay in professional football circles. "Chamakh....lots of hair gel".

"Graham Le Saux....reads the Guardian".

"Frank Lampard....going out with Christine Bleakley, who could be a man".

"Gareth Bale....boyish looks, smiles a lot. Is Welsh".

"Ronaldo. Definately bi-sexual".
Back home to bacon and lentil pie, a bottle of Campo Viejo and the soothing sunday evening patter of John Craven on Countryfile, before X Factor results and bed.

Team: Russell Smith, Mario Pisano (Tino), Jimmy Lloyd, Joao Spinola, Chris Read, Aaron Gayle (Liam Greenaway), Joe Haley, Umar Ba (Adam Bradbury), Ben Chambers, Max Bland.

RECREATIVO 14-3 Barking Mad 3.10.10.

2010-10-03T09:13:00.001-07:00

"What happened to your opposition? Did their wheelchairs get stuck in the mud?".

"Who were you playing? The Girl Guides?".

"Fourteen-Three? It couldn't have been proper football".

And so go some of the comments made by our nearests and dearests the past few days, scandalous assumptions that Barking Mad couldn't have been all that. Truth is, they did have a lot of possession in the first half, but even with the wind against us, we tore into their defence like the proverbial knife through butter. What a strange day out on the Marshes. A day that will simply be remembered as the best ever result for Recreativo Football Club.

The phone had been non stop the previous evening. 'Jim, is game on tomorrow? Have you seen the rain?'.

'Hello mate, is match still on? Will it be flooded?'.

There's nothing worse than spending a romantic night at the cinema (in front of 'Made in Dagenham') and the text messages are vibrating your inner thigh. All night the rain lashed down. The nervy staff of Regents Park would simply call off our games at the merest hint of a storm cloud, but the folk at Hackney Marshes are made of sterner stuff.
And so we found ourselves under the darkest skies we had encountered all year, heavy rain on and off all day, everyone soaked. The portakabin dressing rooms offered scant refuge from the downpour, semi flooded floor, mud and shit all over the place. It was a relief to be out on the gorgeous green pitches that looked in absolutely tip top condition. When the rain did stop, the conditions seemed near perfect to play a game of football. Having battled through traffic in such appalling conditions, everyone seemed more determined than ever to charge about for the next two hours.
The first half saw Barking have decent spells of possession, their right winger and the funki dread left midfielder both looked pretty decent on the ball. Despite the wind against us we soon found our stride. Something happened to this football club over the summer. After many years treading water in the lower echelons of the Central Super League we decided it was time to reinvigorate our football club. With youth! With speed! With goal getters! Four games in, having won four and scored 25 goals in the process, our energized squad is looking proper handy, as shown today with Benson's and Joe Haley's four goals each, Max's hat-trick, two goals for Liam and one for Aaron. 5-1 up at half time with the wind against us, the lads seized the second half to play keep ball and shoot on sight. The score was maybe a little flattering. Barking have some very good players and did make a game of it. Their late goals in the second half had us rattled and even 11-1 up we wondered if Recreativo would even fuck this one up!
So a good day for our club. Flying high, a massive squad all eager to play and a fantastic winter of football every weekend stretching out in front of us. Bring it on!

Team: James Humphreys, Mario Pisano (Marcus du Sautoy), Joao Spinola, Joe Dunthorne (John Megaughin), Jimmie Gregory (Russell Smith), Benson Chambers, Joe Haley, Adam Bradbury (Tino), Aaron Gayle, Max Bland, Liam Greenaway.

RECREATIVO 4-1 Sandmere 19.9.10

2010-09-19T11:14:00.001-07:00

Our ref is stuck in traffic on the way from West Ham and only nine players from Sandmere have found their way to our pitch. The Marshes can be a confusing place if you don't know where you are going. North Marsh, South Marsh, East Marsh, over the cow bridge, the little bridge over the river, Homerton Road. We send out maps and directions every week but still get calls 20 minutes before kick off asking where are we? We leave the car down by Clapton Park estate wondering if it will still be there when we get back. As we cross the North Marsh, Mario remarks, "This is where it all started". Eight years on and we're still here with possibly the strongest team we've ever had, playing some scintillating football and tearing up through a league made of some of London's finest.
We finally kicked off, Sandmere desperately trying to recruit players from other pitches (they even asked if any of our subs would play for them and make up their eleven...the cheek!). Despite only having nine, they did put up a good fight and seem a well handy team. However our full team enabled us to take full advantage and come on, every team needs a little luck now and again. Play possession football and surely we would win. And that's what we did, goals coming from a marauding Adam Bradbury charging up from central defence and a goal a piece for Joe Haley, Benson and Liam. A late strike for Sandmere was a consolation for a decent performance. We look forward to playing them later in the season when the numbers will be hopefully matched. Still, a win is a win, three points in the bag and a sunday off next week. Lovely!
Team: James Humphreys, Mario Pisano (Marcus du Sautoy), Joao Spinola, Adam Bradbury (Chris Read), Joe Dunthorne (Jimmie Gregory), Benson Chambers, Joe Haley, Aaron Gayle (John Megaughin), Connor Joseph, Max Bland, Liam Greenaway.

Clapham Alexandra 2-4 RECREATIVO 12.9.10

2010-09-13T07:59:00.001-07:00

It's sunday morning and we have a training session with 30+ local kids in Clissold Park, all back from their summer holidays, brimming with boundless energy and eager to make it into the team for next week's games. After two hours of mini matches, shooting and dribbling, the kids vent their disappointment when we bring the session to a close, telling them we have two hours to get to Clapham and ready ourselves for a senior match. "Hope you lose!", one of them calls, wearing his Recreativo kit and wagging his finger. A five minute turn around as we pack away
the balls and bibs, the goals and paraphernalia of youth football and grab the senior's kitbag. We are soon crammed into the car, stuck in traffic on Caledonian Road, heading once more to Clapham Common. We pondered the age old question that comes up every year around this time. Is the ground too hard for studs? What about blades? Who's playing in their trainers? The mood is good as we discuss yesterday's Premiership results and thoughts turn to today's game. And what a fantastic game it turned out to be, Recreativo once more turning on the style and bagging a hatful of goals (courtesy of Aaron and Max who got two a piece). Another fast moving

game unraveled across the surprisingly soft green turf of Clapham, despite the referee doing his utmost to keep stopping the game every few seconds, blowing his whistle just in case we failed to realise who was in charge. Another three points in the bag and a satisfying journey back across the river to a evening in front of the telly for Antiques Roadshow, Sevilla vs Depor, a fine film about a school teacher's lust for her 15 year old pupil and a dark lesbian control freak, accompanied by a gorgeous rioja, pork chops, chocolate. Another fantastic sunday.

Team: James Humphreys, Marcus du Sautoy (Miguel Morales), Chris Read (Umar Ba), Joao Spinola, Jimmie Gregory (Tino), Connor Joseph, Aaron Gayle, Joe Haley, Benson Chambers (Steven Afro), Liam Greenaway, Max Bland.

Injured, sick notes, working, film premieres etc : Joe Dunthone, Gregg Morgan,

Jimmy Lloyd, Russel Smith, John Megaughin, Mario Pisano.

Next up..Sandmere at home

RECREATIVO 3-2 Shepherds Tuesday 5.9.10

2010-09-05T09:25:00.000-07:00

What a shit summer! England. Vuvuzelas. A World Cup final played out by past masters of Total Football, as if it was a war. The Jubulani. Messi. Drogba. Torres. Italy. Gallas coming to Tottenham! At least Andy Murray didn't win Wimbledon. And so here we go again, the kids going back to school, the darker days drawing in and another season in the Central Sunday Super League.

There was a slight spring in our step as we descended from all corners of Hackney back to the beautiful Marshes and it wasn't just the lush green pitches that we trod upon. Our summer recruitment drive, early training sessions in Clissold Park, had meant we had a very decent squad of players this time round, quite capable of being right up there this season. And to be honest, it's about time we had a serious crack at winning this league. First up, Shepherds Tuesday, a team we've had mixed fortunes against over the years.
Joe Haley put us 1-0 up with either a wonder goal (lobbed from not far off the half way line) or a long ball forward which the keeper fumbled and dropped over his line - which ever way you want to look at it. Either way, we were all made up for Joe who always puts in a decent shift in midfield. An equaliser just before half time would usually have seen our heads drop, but we got out there and played some of the best football we've played in this league. Connor and Benson were ripping up the opposition, Max and débutante Liam running like lightening onto their through balls. Brilliant stuff. Joe H poached another, Shepherds equalised again and finally Joe Dunthorne does what he always seems to do when he comes up from a corner, win the ball, cause panic in the oppo's box and smash the ball into the old onion bag. Get in!
Once again, 100% effort from all involved. Good to get off to a winning start against a decent side. Roll on the good times. Roll on the scuffed knees and aching legs. Roll on the away days to the darkest muddiest fields of South London. It's going to be a beautiful season for Recreativo Football Club. J.G.

Team: James Humphreys, Mario Pisano (Tino), Jimmy Lloyd, Joao Spinola, Joe Dunthorne (Chris Read), Aaron Gayle (Liam Greenaway), Umar Ba (Adam Bradbury), Joe Haley, Connor Joseph, Benson Chambers, Max Bland.

2010-08-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

Our final training session of the summer saw a large turn out, creaky old legs trying to keep up with the newer looking youthful squad. We look forward to the season full of optimism, with possibly our strongest squad for years. Only time will tell. But good vibes and a positive outlook is flowing through the team as we all ready ourselves for the long season ahead.

2010-07-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

The club would like to wish Nick Candy all the best with his move across the pond to LA and into the arms of Elizabeth Miller, Univeristy, strange sports like "soccer" and that game where they all wear helmets, do a lot of running around and the crowd go mad when a bloke runs 20 yards etc...
Nick has been one of the most committed players in his short two seasons with us, never missing a training session or game and will be sorely missed. We hope everything goes well mate. Recreativo salute you...

RECREATIVO FC End of Season Trophy Presentation 20.6.10

2010-06-21T07:16:00.000-07:00

Great fun was had by all at our end of season trophy presentation in Clissold Park. A good turn out saw a squad who had been enjoying the joys of the summer break dragged back into action and taught a footballing lesson by our U11s team. We lost 3-2, despite rolling on and off our subs at lightening speed, the kids playing at half their normal pace as not to embarrass us further. Bless em! Cheers to all the lads for taking part.

RECREATIVO 1-4 Sandmere 25.4.10

2010-04-26T07:32:00.001-07:00

Carlo Ancelotti's moon face flickers wide across the big screen at Ryan's Bar, a Benny from Crossroads kind of a face, a salivating village idiot look but dressed up in sharp Italian clobber. We sat spread out on the sofa watching Sky's post match analysis of Chelsea's 7-0 battering of Stoke, slightly ragged ourselves from not just today's end of season match against Sandmere, but a very long eight months of wall-to-wall sunday football, through one of the most wretched winters we can remember. It was fitting we finished at the Marshes, which today had an end of season feel, quiet for a sunday. Out on the East Marsh it almost felt like being in the countryside, but for the Olympic building site on the horizon.

The team talk was simple; whatever happens today, win, draw or lose, let's just enjoy the football, enjoy this final game. And after Henry the ref gave everyone a pre-match warning about heavy tackles and the like, we kicked off with the sunshine beating down like a midsummer's day. Beautiful.

Sandmere turned out to be one of the best teams we had played all season, neat passes, fast and in truth, a little too good for us today. Still we made a game of it, Mario getting on the score sheet (it must be two goals in seven seasons now!) and Max coming close. Heads dropped a little too easily today, but for most of us, being out on the Marshes, enjoying the banter, having a laugh and ending up in the beer garden after the game soon washed over the score line.
We raised our glasses to another season and another big chapter in the life of Recreativo FC. It's been a tough one for some of us older lads with injuries, family duties and work, but bringing in some younger legs has certainly turned our season around. We've had at least 15 players wanting to turn out every week for our club which is a good sign for next season. And with a new found resilience in the second half of our campaign and a buoyant belief and spirit running throughout the team, we look forward to next September and pulling on the majestic red of Recreativo once more. Take a bow lads...

Team: James Humphreys, Marcus du Sautoy (Gregg Morgan), Joao Spinola, Jimmy Lloyd, Joe Dunthorne, Mario Pisano (John Megaughin), Adam Bradbury, Joe Haley (Nick Candy), Chris Read (Aaron Gayle), Max Bland, Connor Jospeh.

Sicknotes, partying, worn out, work or AWOL: Jimmie Gregory, Russell Smith, Bilal Talib-Ali, Ben Chambers, Tino, Lee Walsh.

RECREATIVO 2-2 Project Clapham 11.4.10

2010-04-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

Gregg Morgan writes:

And lo Recreativo came home. RHFC went back to the Marshes and delivered one of the season's finest performances. A confident and assured Reccy came with in minutes of putting the newly crowned, and unbeaten, Champions to the sword. The impressive Project Clapham, with all their points and goals, got away with this one.

It was actually the first time at the home of grassroots football for over half the team. That half being mostly comprised of the Reccy School of Excellence - Max, Connor, Aaron, Joe (Paul Scholes) and now Ben - the latest product of the youth system! Oh how Chelsea must dream of such a stream of talent. Not only have these boys injected much needed pace and goals into the second half of our season, it's great to see the young ones being among the first ones to turn up week in, week out. In fact they were all there waiting in the Hackney sun as Joey D and I rocked up to the impassioned throng of the car park. Everywhere you look football oozed out, well, apart from the burger van.

But where was our leader? Wembley? Letting his beloved break his semi-final heart again? No Jimmie was in Paris apparently. How do you say 'big screen' and 'referee's a wanker'' a la francais anyway? What with Nick and Adam also absent, it was time for the rest of the squad to step up today. James has nets and phone numbers. Good start. Joey D pays the deposit for the changing room. This is going fine. Now where is the kit? Anyone seen Jimmy L? What's the time? Perhaps we should phone him...he's what? Lost! But we're supposed to be at home!

The league leaders are of course already on the pitch, kitted up, drilling and dreaming of how many they are going to score. We find our kit man, Joao arrives, things begin to look up. We rush out and get the nets up but where's the ref? Oh well fine, we need to warm-up anyway. We try to emulate the exact routine, Jimmie's invisible hand guiding us all the way through to keep-ball in the penalty area. Still no ref. Phone-calls and negotiations with the opposition commence, they only have ten men and are happy to hold on, we want to get into to them immediately, they only have ten men!

Then out of nowhere a ref, a new ref, match ready. Still no sign of our usual man in black. It's 2.25pm, bugger it, let's play. And did we play. Knocking it around on the floor for stretches, calm heads working hard, it's the best footballing display I've seen in Reccy colours. With both teams trying to pass, the first half was a decent and even tussle. Chances at either end and a lively but fair spirit meant the game was a real contest. Given our 7-0 drubbing in the reverse fixture that would have been something a couple of months ago, but that was then and this is now. The further the half went on the more our belief grew. We wanted to be the team that ruined Clapham's unbeaten season. The boys up front clearly roam undaunted by any reputation but even the olds at the back began stroking it around! We have free headers and one-on-one's and then it came true. Ben, with so much power to his pace, rampaged from out right through the centre, beating a man or two, bearing down on goal and forcing the centre-back into one of the finest own-goals you are likely to see. Slotted, along the floor, curving deliciously around the goalie's fingertips, destined only for the bottom corner. 1-0.

We make it to half-time easily enough. Our ref has turned up but bows out leaving us to a Jimmie-less team talk. We are buzzing but I try to warn everyone that these guys are going to come out fighting, that they have played some nice football, clearly have talent, we'll have to keep it tight early doors. So what do we do....? Reccy only go and score the best team goal of the season straight from the kick off! The pass-o-meter clicks into double figures as Connor is put through and beats the goalie with an absolute peach of a finish, clipped over the goalie as he rushes from his line. The opposition didn't even have a touch! 2-0!

Forty-four minutes to go.

The game continues to be an even encounter. On the hour the Champions show why they are just that with some neat build-up play and a cracking 25 yard finish. 2-1. Barking Mad flashes into my mind's eye. But I won't let it stay, 'Come on Reccy!'. It feels different, we're still comfortable, we're working our socks off and still trying to play it about. We are going to pull it off. More chances at either end, Clapham starting to put the pressure on, but we're close now. Five minutes to go.

But then a decent ball slung into the box from out wide causes a mess as bodies come from everywhere, in the ensuing scramble a Clapham foot chops it past Chris's despairing last-line lunge. 2-2. BOLLOCKS. Oh god - I can't take another Barking Mad, that game haunted me for days, not again, please.

Despite our past we almost find a winner, the whistle goes just after Connor slams an effort goalwards only for a deflection to see it into the keepers hands. Reccy leave the pitch with a slight trudge, we came so close. That says it all really, we walk off annoyed not to have beaten a team who have not lost all season, who had only drawn one game amongst all the victories, who surely haven't been as close to defeat as they were today in the glorious Marsh sunshine.

The defence beats a retreat to a Homerton watering hole for a well-deserved pint and to watch another team shrug off their bottom of the table status as Pompey knock Spurs out of the Cup. Safe to say the boss wasn't so happy about that remarkable resurgence as he must be about Recreativo's phoenix from the flames. From bottom at Christmas to Champion-beater's, almost.

Team: James Humphreys, Mario Pisano (Joao Spinola), Gregg Morgan, Jimmy Lloyd, Joe Dunthorne, Aaron Gayle, Joe Haley, Ben Chambers, Chris Read, Max Bland, Connor Joseph.

Lyric Celtic 0-2 RECREATIVO 4.3.10

2010-04-04T08:50:00.000-07:00

We arrived at Clapham Common wondering if we were the only team in South London who had chose to ignore the resurrection of our dear Lord Jesus and fulfill an Easter fixture as the park was deserted and silent. We had our own resurrection to concentrate on, as Recreativo have risen up the ranks with a fantastic set of recent results.

As always, we square up the opposition as we go through our warm up. Lyric have some big lads in their team, but that means little if the ball is kept on the floor. And for large periods of the game that's what we done. Once again our younger lads played tight threaded through balls in and
around Lyric's defence, both Connor and Max giving them the run around. Nick and Marcus broke up much of their midfield and as always Jimmy Lloyd steadied our backline, mopping up intelligently. A great goal for debutant Ben was followed by another Joe Dunthorne strike, pushing into the box from a Recreativo corner.
Those of us who had retired to the subs bench witnessed a very fine game of football played out there today, Recreativo's second half display dominant, having the wind behind us. Aaron stood out as man of the match in the second half, linking up well with our forwards and always chasing back and retrieving the ball, Rooney-style, if our team lost it. Every player gave it their all once more today and fully deserved the win. Beaming smiles, tired legs and Caramel Chunky Kit Kats on the way home as the in car banter turned to Viagra, "X Factor" legal ecstasy, living in Brazil, more sex, the Sun vs the Guardian, before steak pie, red wine and Everton vs the Hammers waited at home. It's fantastic playing for this football team. Recreativo have risen. May the Lord bless them all.

Team : James Humphreys, Mario Pisano (Chris Read), Jimmy Lloyd, Gregg Morgan, Jimmie Gregory (Joe Dunthorne), Joe Haley, Marcus du Sautoy (Aaron Gayle), Nick Candy, Tino (Ben Chambers), Max Bland, Connor Joseph.

Sicknotes: Bilal (Algeria), Adam (Easter duties), Joao (Easter duties), Russell (Thailand).

RECREATIVO 3-2 Ladzio 28.3.10

2010-03-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

When the kit catalogue arrived just before our first season we found the strip that most resembled Roma's red. It should not be the garish Liverpool red, but the maroon/claret red that's a little bit different, has that aura of imperial dignity. Some of us aligned ourselves with Roma back in the early nineties when everyone seemed to chose an Italian team when Channel Four's Football Italiano erupted on TV. The sun always seemed to be shining in Rome and the stadium dramatics of fan choreographies, flares and flags made a change from the emerging all singing, all dancing Americanisation of the Premier League. So today, up against a team called 'Ladzio', complete in their Biancocelesti trim, this match was always going to be a worthy local version of Il Derby Della Capitale.
The opening 25 minutes rushed by and in general was a very good game of football, but a few late challenges from the opposition, some pushing and shoving (by both teams I might add) and some niggly argy-bargy went unpunished and a tempestuous vibe hung over the game like a storm cloud about to explode. We had words with ref at half time about what we felt were blatant fouls committed against us (I am sure Ladzio had their own grievances). However, in the second half a series of near leg-breaking challenges against Chris, then Nick, then Aaron and the subsequent scraps that seemed to break out all over the pitch made us seriously think about walking off the pitch altogether. Two yellow cards for Ladzio (straight reds from any other ref) for dangerous tackles and a yellow for Recreativo (back chat) seemed sufficient to calm the game down for the last few minutes, as Bilal popped up and slotted home the winner.
Luckily, there were enough of us (on both sides) who wanted to play football and not break someone's leg, throw punches or tell the ref to fuck off. The Ladzio geezer who gave his name as 'Dick Head' to the ref when getting booked for a horrendous challenge on Nick, summed up exactly what we all thought of him, one complete twat of a so called footballer who seemed intent to ruin a decent match. As always, we shook hands at the end, feeling like we had ridden waves of bad tackles, but at least grabbing those precious three points. After a very lengthy discussion with the ref at the end of the game, we headed for home for dinner, a fine bottle of Rioja, Antiques Roadshow and Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid on the box.
Team: James Humphreys, Mario Pisano (Gregg Morgan), Nick Candy, Joao Spinola, Jimmie Gregory (John Megaughin), Aaron Gayle, Joe Paul Scholes (Chris Read), Adam Bradbury, Tino (Bilal Talib-Ali), Connor Joseph, Max Bland.

RECREATIVO 2-2 Rio Kaiserslautern 21.3.10

2010-03-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

On the way to the meet in Clissold Park, one of the ugliest animals you could possibly imagine stops us dead in our tracks. A huge toad (the size of a cat) crawls into the road in front of us as we slam on the brakes, jump out of the car and although too scared to pick it up, try and save it before it gets squashed into the road. Traffic stops as we explain to the other road users that they have to swerve this unpleasant creature. We desperately look for a stick to push it out the road, but it wouldn't budge. The thought of actually lifting it up with bare hands doesn't bare thinking about. None of us would actually touch it! Gripping the tarmac with it's hands (do toads have hands? Definately not paws!), refusing to move despite the oncoming traffic peril, we decide to leave it and head for Regents Park. Toads. Frogs. Snakes. Komodo Dragons. Lizards. Eels. Horrible creatures.
At Regents Park, it feels like nature is on the move today, a huge heron swooping over our pitch like a Heinkel bomber silhouetted against the sun. Spring hangs heavy in the air as if about to burst out across the city. It feels good. Like the end of the season is upon us, which for us older gentlemen in the team is always welcomed. Summer is not far off, a chance to rest, play some local park football and not worry about league positions, a chance to regenerate and as always, a chance to 'get fit for next season' as some of us always say!

A good match today against last season's champions. Goals for Aaron and Connor were the highlights of the game, Nick tore something in the groin/buttock area (after the introduction of the new stick your bum out warm up routine) and it's now two games in a row without a punch up for Recreativo!
An excellent game on a gorgeous day in a beautiful part of this wonderful city. The only sour note of the day came on the way home when we decided to stop and check out the toad. It was as flat as a pancake. Back home, roast dinner, wine and chocolate washed away the guilt of leaving the poor creature in the road. Blackburn-Chelsea, Countryfile, Antiques Roadshow and then Dimbleby before falling asleep on the settee and bed.

Team: James Humphreys, John Megaughin (Mario Pisano), Nick Candy (Marcus du Sautoy), Jimmy Lloyd, Joe Dunthorne, Aaron Gayle, Joe Paul Scholes (Adam Bradbury), Joao Spinola, Jimmie Gregory (Tino), Max Bland, Connor Joseph.

RECREATIVO 4-3 The Llamas 14.3.10

2010-03-14T09:49:00.001-07:00

"No Joao today". The words explode like a stun grenade in the dressing room, the upbeat vibe shattered in an instant as everyone stares at the floor and carries on putting on kit in silence. "No Adam either...or Gregg, Russell or Bilal". No one dare say it, but a communal thought hung heavy like a black cloud..we're going to struggle today.

Joe Paul Scholes is making his midfield debut today and has a massive task to step up and fill the huge hole in the middle of the team, where usually both the Recreativo brain and heart would be.

"What are the opposition like?" Max asks.

"Absolute shite" is the reply, a little white lie to con our youngsters into feelings of superiority and feed their youthful cockiness.

Some of us older lads are completely whacked by the time we've warmed up and nervously peer over at the Llamas, resplendent in their Villa Real yellow kit and with probably only one or two players shorter than 6ft tall. We awaited their WAGS to follow, to pour more scorn on us scruffy Hackney boys.
After last week's fatal self destruction Nick turns to us and says, "We have nothing to lose!". We certainly can not stoop any lower than last week's debacle and so charge into this game from the off. Whether it was the sunshine, or exorcising the demon's of last week's shame, a little piece of magic fluttered across this small corner of North London today as some quite exquisite football unravelled from the team in Roma red. Max and Connor ran their back line ragged at times, linking up with Aaron and Joe with neat triangular passing, one-twos straight from the Barcelona skills manual.

Despite conceding three, Recreativo were deserved winners today, Connor scoring once and Max grabbing a much merited hat-trick. Despite missing so many quality players today, everyone else had a chance to stand up and be counted and in fact be part of Recreativo's best team performance of the season. With a six point double-header coming up next, it's going to be a headache selecting the team.

Team: James Humphreys, Mario Pisano (Marcus du Sautoy), Nick Candy, Jimmy Lloyd, Joe Dunthorne, Aaron Gayle, Chris Read, Joe Paul Scholes, Tino (John Megaughin), Max Bland, Connor Joseph.

Sick notes: Bilal and Stef (fighting at the Latin disco), Adam (family duties), Joao Spinola (family duties), Russell (dad's birthday), Jimmie (in kit but worn down by kids football), Gregg (unknown).

RECREATIVO 2-3 Barking Mad 7.3.10.

2010-03-07T09:45:00.000-08:00

9am Clissold Park. The gorgeous Spring sunshine began to tear through the clouds and cast a blanket of warmth downwards across the frozen soil, soon to be trampled by our junior teams at early morning football training. In the shadows, Jack Frost's icy cold fingers dug deep into the earth, a futile attempt to cling on as the inevitable magnificence of the Spring sun spread across the turf and in all it's golden beauty bathed everything in the park. A triumphant return of sunshine in all it's morning glory. It was going to be a good day...

It was simple. We were up against Barking Mad, one point above us in the league having played five more games than us, and in our eyes, with the decent team we were putting out, there for the taking. The dressing room was bursting with good vibes today, that electric pre-match mix of anticipation and nerves, adrenalin and laughter. The banter flowed, kit spilled everywhere and smiles flashed across the faces of the team, a band of brothers about to charge out together across the battlefield of pitch eight, Regents Park.

The first 45 minutes saw Recreativo come well out on top. Despite the very odd scare (Barking's lone front man getting the better of our defence once, maybe twice in the first half), we dominated largely. Gregg's unstoppable 25 yarder carried both the ball and their big Polish keeper across the line to put us 1-0 up and then an exquisite curling shot from the left wing found the top corner to put us two in front, Max's wonder-strike competing with our better goals so far for goal of the season.
The half time team talk was simple. 'More of the same please'. However, with what seemed a gale force wind whipping up and carrying every lofted ball high up over our heads, a very different game opened up the second half, and opened up Recreativo like a sabre-rattling cut-purse about to commit daylight robbery. A goal for Barking gave them the impetus they craved. Every Recreativo ball forward was brought back at double speed by the wind, panic set in and after another Barking goal, the inevitable set in and we lost all belief. A high bouncing ball was charged down in our box and the ball bundled across the line with five minutes to go. A disastrous conclusion to a second half that saw us leave the park as if something inside us all had ceased to exist. A little piece of Recreativo died today. Stunned, silent, angry, lost for words, confused, shell shocked, hurt. I can't remember having ever felt this bad having lost a game of football. Someone tell me it really doesn't matter. Please.

Team: James Humphreys, Jimmie Gregory (Mario Pisano), Nick Candy (Marcus du Sautoy), Gregg Morgan, Joe Dunthorne (Chris Read), Aaron Gayle (John Megaughin), Joao Spinola, Adam Bradbury, Tino, Connor Joseph, Max Bland.

Rio Kaiserslautern P-P RECREATIVO 28.2.10.

2010-02-26T07:54:00.000-08:00

This weekend's game was the eighth postponed match (so far!) this season. Rain, snow, frozen pitches, more rain, more snow...not much fun if you have waited all week to play, have the kitbag ready and waiting. However Wandsworth Common have announced three days before the fixture that the pitches are flooded and a torrential downpour is expected sunday morning onwards. We have re-scheduled almost every fixture so far so all we can do now is pray for some sunshine...and maybe move to Southern Europe next season?

RECREATIVO 2-1 Clapham Alexandra 14.2.10

2010-02-14T11:14:00.000-08:00

Finally, we've managed to put a good little run of games together, finding the kind of form that leaves us scratching our heads in wonder just why we have found ourselves at the wrong end of the table. We fancied it today, building the team around experienced heads at the back, the engine of Adam and Joao in midfield and the leggy youth steaming into the opposing defence like the ICF crashing into Millwall halfway down Green Street. This match will probably be remembered by the second half handbags, a few choice tackles that saw our younger lads swinging arms and shoving, but it shouldn't take away from the decent football that was played by Recreativo today. Connor scored the best goal of the season so far, a 25 yard strike that swerved mid-flight and left the goalie helpless.

Clapham equalised a few minutes into the second half (what is it with Recreativo unable to defend bloody corners straight after the break?!), but Connor added another late on and a very determined team effort saw it out to the final whistle. Great stuff! Special mention must go to James today, who's played in almost every position this past year. After stepping in for goalie duty some many months ago, he's definitely made that position his own and his last ditch saves have gone along way to keeping Reccy on the winning side these past few games.
Three points for Recreativo and into the car for the drive home. We discuss Pete Docherty, heroin, the back streets of Napoli and the Rome Parthenon. Listen to 606 in the bath (mostly Spurs fans coming back from Bolton moaning about Harry Rednapp's lack of a plan B), watch a bloke on Countryfile selling some sheep, open a bottle of Malbec and stretch out on the settee for the next installment of Dimbleby's 'Seven Ages of Britain'. This week it's the Tudors. Henry the Eighth, the dissolution of the catholic monasteries and the Reformation. A sumptuous and rich history lesson before lights out and the agony of monday morning's 5.30am alarm.

Team: James Humphreys, Mario Pisano (John Megaughin), Gregg Morgan, Jimmy Lloyd, Jimmie Gregory (Joe Dunthorne), Nick Candy (Bilal Talib Ali) Aaron Gayle, Adam Bradbury, Joao Spinola, Connor Joseph, Max Bland.

Jeff's Chippy 1-2 RECREATIVO 7.2.10

2010-02-07T10:45:00.000-08:00

Quite simply, this made up for all the shit times! The AWOL players, the mud, the rain, the games called off, the broken bones, the latecomers, the filthy kit, the agony of losing, the late refs, the torn muscles, the last minute thrown away games, the dodgy offsides, the Monday morning muddy car interior, the getting lost in South London, the stupid comments from ex-players, the snidey wanker football 'fans' at work, the needing a crap in some dark changing room and there's no bog roll....today, sheer relief emanated from every worn out and knackered body in a Recreativo shirt, jubilation and happiness as we left the pitch having firmly planted the blood red flag fair and squarely into the miserable cold soil of Clapham Common. Phew...
In all honesty, we fancied it today. We look around at ourselves before every game and see a team bursting with talented footballers. We simply have no explanation for our bad run and today seemed to go that extra few yards to grab the game back by the scruff of the neck after going 1-0 down. Miguel and Adam will have to fight for Man of the Match as both fought tirelessly, up and down the pitch, box to box. Max pinched a goal in the opening seconds of the second half and Adam was rewarded for all his hard work, pouncing after Joao's free kick was fumbled by the Chippy keeper. A desperate final ten minutes saw Chippy hit our bar, forcing corner after corner. James dealt with everything thrown at him and led from the back, the whole team back in and around our area, blocking the ball, throwing bodies in the way, tackling as if our very survival depended on it.
Hugs, back slaps, high fives and bloody great smiles, (not seen since the lager drenched team Christmas party), broke out throughout the team as we left the pitch. It meant a lot today. We knew we were so much better than our previous results suggested. The journey home saw our usual stop for Chunky Kit Kats and Lucozade, only Drogba's first goal against the Arse on the radio somewhat souring this delicious victory for the gooners on the back seat. Home to roasted free range chicken, a superb Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, Fiorentina vs Roma on the box and bed.

Team: James Humpreys, John Megaughin (Bilal Talib Ali), Gregg Morgan, Jimmy Lloyd, Jimmie Gregory (Miguel Morales), Connor Joseph, Adam Bradbury, Joao Spinola, Mario Pisano (Stefan Garcias Fernandez), Nick Candy, Max Bland.

Sicknotes: Chris (leg), Marcus (arm), Lee (kids), Joe (India), Russell (Thailand), Kali (pub).

RECREATIVO 2-2 Livingstone Academicals 31.1.10

2010-01-31T11:19:00.000-08:00

Sinking into the settee in front of David Dimbleby's 'Seven Ages of Britain' with a glass of red wine in hand, the remote within reach and scoffing big gobfuls of Dairy Milk, seemed the perfect way to finish a very good sunday. The Roman invasion of Britain, the golden archeological treasures of Sutton Hoo, the Norman conquests and the Bayeux tapestry briefly offered a televisual relief from physical pain, a respite from the torn and twisted muscles after an afternoon trampling across Regents Park in one of Recreativo's better games of football this season.

And a mighty fine game of football it had been, the highlights of which were two stunning goals from Recreativo. The first, a through ball pounced on by Bilal who deftly chipped the keeper from the edge of the box and the second, a fierce shot from Aaron that almost tore a hole through the back of Livingstone's net. Superb!
All in all, a much improved team performance, despite many regulars missing today. The game saw plenty of football actually played on the floor (for once!), our younger lads skillfully threading balls through from midfield. Nick's "Is my cheekbone broken?" cry, eyes closed, flat out in the filthy cold mud, summed up the spirit in the team today, determined to win every 50-50, determined to take away something from this match. In the end, it was only a point, but it meant more than that. It was a big team performance today, a turning point in our season which we now aim to get back on track.

As always, we shake hands, collect the muddy kit and head for home. We discuss John Terry's infidelity, the World Cup and work on the way back and get home in time to switch on Sky and witness Man Utd tearing Arsenal apart at the Emirates. Not even a beer and sausage sandwich can console gooner Nick who sits and shouts at the telly (although young Storm the Yiddo is bouncing up and down on the settee). Atletico vs Malaga, Football's Next Star and then Mr Dimbleby see out the rest of the evening.
Team: James Humphreys, Nick Candy, Gregg Morgan, Jimmy Lloyd, Jimmie Gregory (John Megaughin), Connor Joseph, Joao Spinola, Tino (Stefan Garcias Fernandez), Aaron Gayle, Max Bland, Bilal Talib Ali.

Sicknotes: Chris (bruised leg), Marcus (arm), Lee (kids), Adam (kids), Russell (Thailand), Joe (India), Mario (Emirates...Arsenal, not the United Arab...).

Project Clapham 7-0 RECREATIVO 24.1.10

2010-01-24T10:00:00.000-08:00

Such a long time since we've played, such an awful scoreline, but such a great game of football for everyone involved. We arrived at a muddy Wandsworth Common to find Project Clapham out warming up, an hour before kick off. Cones, bibs, group hugs (not like a team huddle, this was men...hugging!). Unbeaten in the league and doing drills the Royal Marines would have been proud of, our opposition today certainly meant business. And fair play to them. It's good to see a team disciplined, prepared, training hard when so many teams in this league have been so disorganized over the years. Who can remember the last time the entire Recreativo squad were in full kit, warming-up on time, together, preparing as a team without one player messing about with his I-pod, hair band, golden boots, mobile, dog, etc?

Still, the first 20 minutes Recreativo charged out of the starting blocks, Tino, Joao and Adam bossing the midfield. New signing Connor was busy linking up with Max and the boys at the back dealt with everything that came their way. The first 20 minutes however was followed by another 70, in which we were fair and squarely beaten with superior fitness..again. Not much to add really, although you wouldn't think so by the scoreline, but James had a fairly good game in goal, Aaron was pretty solid at right-back and Max, Bilal and Connor were busy throughout. As always, 100% effort from all involved and at the end of the day we can't ask for anything more than that. A great game of footy and it was

almost still light by the time we got home!

Team : James Humphreys, Chris Read (Aaron), Jimmy Lloyd, Nick Candy, Mario Pisano (John Megaughin), Connor, Joao Spinola, Adam Bradbury, Tino, Max Bland, Bilal Talib Ali.

Sicknotes: Marcus (broken arm), Jimmie G (knee), Gregg (ill), Russell (Thailand), Joe (India), Kali (pub), Stef (church).

Shepherds Tuesday 1-3 RECREATIVO 13.12.09

2009-12-14T08:06:00.001-08:00

Hallelujah!

We scribble down the team and realise that we are putting out our strongest side so far this season. Enough decent players in every position, solid back four, tough midfield and enough pace up front to smash and grab those precious three points and drag them back to the Recreativo Christmas knees up in Stoke Newington. Despite the usual chaos of getting everyone to warm up together and on time, (today we realise we have too many players and not enough kit to go round, subs left standing in their pants waiting for someone to give them a pair of shorts), we soon take hold of the opening 20 minutes. There was a great spirit throughout the team today, evident in the crunching tackles flying in, determination to win the ball and keep it, to support eachother. Once again we faced our old keeper, now playing for the opposition. In describing us as 'shit' (the words pot, kettle and black come to mind) and his missus gobbing off they were going to beat us 7-0 (yeah, whatever..), we could not think of a better reason to show them what Recreativo are all about.

Joe, Max and Joao all scored and Bilal could have (should have) scored another three. It's been a long time coming, but we finally won a game. Our best performance this season saw players really committed, crunching tackles flying in until the very end. A very deserved win, and just in time for Christmas!

The after party found us back along Church Street, squeezed into the vaults of Ryan's Bar in front of Liverpool-Arsenal. A great turn out, pints flowing and having a laugh. Recreativo need to do this more often. Jimmie G, Jimmy L and Mario out drunk everyone. After watching the Spanish football later on, then Sports Personality of the Year we realised we were the last ones left in the bar and moved on to the Rose & Crown. There we were treated to free roast potatoes (lovely with a bit of salt), more booze and the presence of Nigel from Eastenders. We discussed trips abroad, football stadium architecture, bullfighting and work and then it all became a blur. Later on a local housing estate was treated to loud singing. (Kali, "Dad, you woke the whole block up. I was in bed and I could hear you singing 'Come on You Spurs' as you came down the street outside."). All in all, a beautiful day.

Team : James Humphreys, Nick Candy (Chris Read), Joao Spinola, Jimmy Lloyd, Joe Dunthorne, Bilal Talib Ali, Adam Bradbury (Aaron), Lee Walsh, Tino (Stefan Garcia Fernandez), Russell Smith, Max Bland. Subs not used : Super Mario Pisano, John Megaughin.

Sick notes: Marcus (arm), Jimmie G (knee), Gregg (toe).

Sandmere P-P RECREATIVO 29.11.09

2009-11-29T12:30:00.000-08:00

After battling through another sunday morning storm, getting lost in some industrial wasteland in South East London, re-jigging a team sheet after the usual late pull outs, a goalkeeper who's gone AWOL and unable to see through the condensation inside the car, we arrive at Battersea Park to find both pitches under a foot of water. The park keeper tells us the matches are off and that the Sports Booking office is closed from friday afternoons onwards so was unable to inform any teams (???!!!!). Our squad had travelled across London, all arriving roughly at the same time, by car, train and in Jimmy L's case, bike, only to find a deserted park and huge lake where the centrecircle should be. With the Merseyside Derby, then Arsenal-Chelsea and Barca-Real offering a decent day's viewing on the settee in the warm indoors we head for home and the kit stays clean until next week. Nice one to everyone who made the effort.

Clapham Alexandra 4-1 RECREATIVO 22.11.09

2009-11-22T11:03:00.000-08:00

The darkness of the skies and impending storm seem a fitting backdrop to Recreativo's day of destiny in deepest Clapham. We go into the game standing adrift at the bottom of the table, the gap between us and Barking Mad opening wide like the abyss of Hades, self-destruction, doom, despair and desperation dragging us down. It begins to rain so hard that we can not actually see through the car windscreen. However we make it to Clapham Common and huddle in possibly the worst dressing room we've ever been in. Mud and shit and rubbish and old tracksuit bottoms. It's like the Fritzl's basement that they never found. However, a kind of Dunkirk spirit begins to spread through the team as Jimmy L and Adam show, having cycled miles from north London in the most atrocious conditions and everyone readies themselves for the slosh-fest conditions on the pitch. Before a ball is kicked we're already wondering which poor sod is going to have to wash the kit this week.

The first half is uneventful, save for the poor non-clearance three minutes before half time that gifts Clapham an easy goal. We have one shot on target in the first 45 minutes, inexplicable when you realise how many decent footballers have turned out for Reccy today. Adam urges everyone to be "solid for the first ten minutes of the second half" and we have a chance. Two minutes in and we're picking the ball out of our net, another set-piece that we fail to defend. Another two goals for Clapham, a bust up between Lee and Ivan, a biting wind and finally, a Recreativo goal (nice one Bilal!) sees us finish the game 4-1 down. Despite the cold, mud and rain, despite another loss and despite the fact that some of us nearly packed it all in last week, we pull through to leave the pitch in fairly good spirits. We're still getting really good turn-outs every week, we're still managing to have a laugh on the way home and after our chocolate stop at the Esso garage heading back north, everything seems to feel fine. We've got a fantastic group of lads in this team and one day when we're sat in some old people's home, we'll look back on these sunday afternoons on the muddy fields of South London and realise they were

some of the best days of our lives. Sort of.

Team: Ivan Murillo Ortiz, Mario Pisano (James Humphreys), Jimmy Lloyd, Gregg Morgan, Nick Candy (John Megaughin), Aaron, Adam Bradbury, Lee Walsh, Stefan Garcias Fernandez, Max Bland, Bilal Talib Ali.

Sick notes: Marcus (arm), Jimmie G (knee), Joe (toe), Joao (AWOL),

Kali (pub), Russell (Thailand), Chris (knee).

RECREATIVO 0-2 Jeffs Chippy 13.11.09

2009-11-15T08:52:00.000-08:00

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Dynamo Landor. Hackney Marshans. Clapham Sundays. Clapham Eagles. South Circular FC. There's been plenty of teams in this league over the last few years who have called it a day. Simply had enough of players fucking around. Every manager has had his Kevin Keegan moment. When you just have to say, 'that's it' and walk away from it all.

Today Recreativo came very close to it. Having left out players to accommodate some returning younger squad members, it's soul destroying to ring them half hour before kick off and have to wake them up! FOR FUCK SAKE! This is after another player had texted to say they were too drunk on saturday night to make a 2pm sunday afternoon kick off. Recreativo's history is littered with stories of drunkenness and players hiding behind the trees spliffing up (while the rest of the team are going through their warm up), team mates squaring up to eachother, the van catching on fire, getting attacked by an iron-bar wielding crackhead, the odd punch up and the like. It's part and parcel of sunday league folklore. It always seemed a bit of a laugh. But as you get a little older, maybe a little less tolerant, you just want everything to work out sort of okay. Is it too much to ask a player to return a text message to say they are coming? (It's laughable when players say they had "no credit"!!! What grown up adult still uses pay-as-you-go for fuck's sake?) Is it too much to ask a player to turn up at least half an hour before kick off? Is it too much to ask a player to stop faffing about with his bootlaces/sock-tape/i-pod/mobile phone/hair and join in

with the team warm up? Is it too much to expect a player to pay his £4 match day subs when we have to find over £1000 every season to keep this fucking team going??!!!

.........pause..............deep breath......

Anyway, the best team won today, fair play and all that. Recreativo played some good football, but it wasn't to be. We shook hands as always and headed home. Not even roast chicken, a bottle of Merlot and the new series of Top Gear could blot out the frustration of a this afternoon's shenanigans. To let players turn up 20 minutes from the end and still give them a game left a bad feeling throughout the squad and it sure won't happen again. We need every player to pull together and keep this team ship-shape, turning up on time and getting their act together if we are to continue past the Christmas break. God save Recreativo..again.

Team: Ivan Murillo Ortiz, John Megaughin (Tino), Jimmy Lloyd, Nick Candy, Joe Dunthorne, Mario Pisano (Stefan Garcia Fernandez), Joao Spinola, Lee Walsh, James Humphreys (Bilal Talib Ali), Tall Aaron, Max Bland.

Livingstone Academicals 2-0 RECREATIVO 8.11.09

2009-11-08T09:06:00.000-08:00

Handbags and Gladrags

After a roundabout trip which included picking up Joe, Gregg and our ever so clean kit, searching for Ivan our Mexican keeper in Clissold Park and doubling back to squeeze in Nihat who was late, we finally made it to Regents Park with 30 minutes to get kitted out, warmed up and ready to play. Half the team managed to begin the warm up, the rest nonchalantly stretched out in ones and twos to the dressing rooms, strolling over with not many minutes to get organised. Stef had brought his dog, a gorgeous sandy coloured Staffordshire Terrier cross that barked constantly for the next 90 minutes.

Despite the canine over excitement, the spirit throughout the team was good, the squad bulging today to allow for four subs. The plan was simple, get on with the game, take three points, shake hands and get home in time for the second half of Chelsea-Man Utd. Unfortunately, we were two goals down in the first half, the ref playing a big part in our downfall. Debutant Max had a clear cut penalty shout waved down and every Recreativo tackle was greeted with the sound of the ref's whistle. To top it all a downright disgraceful decision to award Livingstone a penalty when the ref adjudged Lee to have handled the ball (smacked against his hand, his arm by his side) brought an unsavoury handbags element to the game. Despite it all, there were some real positives from this game. Once again a really good turn out. Max and Bilal looked really good up front, plenty of chances and goals to come in the very near future. And at the final whistle, at last, Stefan's mutt finally stopped barking! Meanwhile,the kit washing rota is in full flow, Mario the lucky boy this week! Next up, Jeff's Chippy. Bring it on!

Team : (Roll on-Roll off) : Ivan Murillo Ortiz, John Megaughin, Joe Dunthorne, Gregg Morgan, Joao Spinola, Mario Pisano, Lee Walsh, Adam Bradbury, Michael, Nick Candy, Max Bland, Bilal Talib Ali, Stefan Garcia Fernandez, Nihat, Tino.

Sick notes: Marcus (arm), Jimmie (rib/knee), Chris (knee), Vico (ankle).

The Llamas 4-1 RECREATIVO 18.10.09

2009-10-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

Always Look On The Bright Side of Life...

A busy weekend for Recreativo Football Club. Friday evening saw both our Under 9 and Under 11 sides cruising to victory in the Camden & Islington League, the kids telling us it was our turn now to go and win sunday's game and return to Stoke Newington without the sack load of shame we've heaped on Recreativo's good name the past few weeks. They are always eager to know the score and scornful when we tell them! And so another sunday lunch time, we are waiting around at Clissold for latecomers and no show-ers, but at least Nihat turns up as promised and we bundle into the cars, a large nail sticking out of the blue Astra which we decide we have no time to sort out. Every team in our league seems to be here today as the colours of Lyric, Barking, Jeff's Chippy, Ladzio et al emerge from the dressing rooms. The game itself was in truth a struggle, Recreativo having a brief

period in the first half where we managed to string more than a few passes together, but the fact that our first shot on goal came on 44 minutes summed up the reality

that we are struggling to offer much of a threat around our opponent's box. It's not through want of trying, our merry-go-round of strikers all putting in the effort, but to little effect. Almost every goal we've scored this season has come from a set piece or penalty. Still, we're big boys, we're not going to cry over this game. The Llamas are a decent side, have a physical presence on the pitch, faster, fitter, but definitely not as good looking as us. We pull into the Esso garage on Walworth Road on the way home, chocolate and fizzy drinks as always perking us up and making everything

seem all right. We debate the good and bad of the game and after a few mouthfuls of Double Decker and glugs of Lucozade the score is quickly forgotten. Joe volunteers for kit wash duty, the best result of the afternoon and Gregg puts thing into perspective when he says despite losing he really enjoyed the game. And that's what's important to us. Bombing around a football pitch on a sunday afternoon, striving to win and doing your best for the team. We bid our farewells and look forward to our next match. On the positive side we hope to have Ivan, Michael and upcoming raw young talent Max included for our next encounter in two weeks time.

Team : Chris Read, Mario Pisano (John Megaughin), Gregg Morgan, Jimmy Lloyd, Joe Dunthorne, Lee Walsh, Adam Bradbury, Joao Spinola, James Humphreys, Nick Candy, Nihat.

RECREATIVO 2-2 Lyric Celtic 11.10.09

2009-10-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

"Low Lie the Fields of Regents Park..."
After a two and a half hour journey back through the traffic hell of Clapham last week, it was a relatively short dash up across Camden and on to Regents Park today. Two heavy carloads, with the arses and elbows of various team members squashed within, were joined with the rest of our mob as the dressing room door swung open and in walked veterans of Recreativo's seasons past and a few new faces. Hands were shaken, dressing room banter began and smiles beamed from every face as anticipation and excitement took it's familiar and welcomed grip. We want to win, but as we always say, if it was just down to the results we would have given up years ago. It's that anticipation, that adrenalin, that rush of excitement whizzing through our veins that keeps us coming back week after week.

Outside, every available strip of grass has a game of football trampling across it. Even in between the marked pitches smaller games of football are under way as groups of lads thunder past each other, weekend Ronaldos tasting the delicious glory of the beautiful game before the tyranny of work drags them back to the hell of monday morning. It's always a sight to behold, the matches stretching out across the gorgeous green of Regents Park, the

surrounding skyline of the Zoo and London's landmarks encircling us as the blood red Recreativo strip flashed across the pitch.

A decent match unfolded, new signing Michael strongly challenging every ball that came his way, Adam maintaining his engine of the team status and both Joe and Jimmy L outstanding in shoring up our defence. A Joao Spinola penalty and a bullet header from Joe grabbed a vital point for us today, a decent draw against a good Lyric side. Ivan, having only been in the country three weeks, is a welcomed addition to our squad, a confident goalkeeper who made some outstanding saves today. Vico and Michael too will strenthen the team as we face a back to back stretch of sunday football taking us right up to Christmas. And so a fair result in the end as we leave Regents Park and look forward to a southbound trip to Clapham next sunday.

Team : Ivan Murillo, Mario Pisano

(James Humphreys), Jimmy Lloyd, Nick Candy (John Megaughin), Joe Dunthorne, Lee Walsh, Adam Bradbury, Joao Spinola, Chris Read (James Other), Michael Joao's-Mate, Vico Welbeck.

Barking Mad 4-0 RECREATIVO 4.10.09

2009-10-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

Can't Get Used To Losing (You)...

It's 3am four days before the match and some of us simply cannot sleep. Instead of counting sheep, the names of players either injured, away or called into work drift through a worried manager's thoughts. Jimmie (knee), Marcus (broken arm), Mario (work), Jimmy L (work), Tom (work), Adam (father-in-law's birthday), Kali ("bird's birthday party"), Dario (bad back). It doesn't look good as we begin to wonder if we'll have to send our U11s team down to Clapham. Twenty-four hours before kick off and another three players text or email to say they are now not coming. There's kit all over the front room floor, socks being paired, shirts and shorts being folded as Preston Vs West Brom flickers on the telly.

Two match balls are pumped, first aid kit checked and everything put in the 'football cupboard' ready, the saturday ritual diligently carried out as the family step over shin-pads and goalie gloves and try to eat their lunch.

The phone is as busy as Harry Rednapp's mobile during the transfer window, as calls are made to try and get a team together

within 24 hours. John tracks down two mates, James can possibly get one, German Dan is duped into coming to watch unaware we will force him to play. Calls are made to Ivan, Chris's workmate, a goalkeeper from Mexico. We track down 15 year old Wala in the local park and rope him in and arrange to give Vico his first game, if only he knew how to get to Clissold Park from Homerton!

Sunday comes and we find ourselves driving all over the place to pick up players that we don't even know what they look like! "What are you wearing?...A bright orange goalie's shirt?". And after a long journey snaking through the roadworks of South London we arrive at Clapham.

Hands are shaken in the dressing room as six new players turn up, pull on the Recreativo shirt and are welcomed into the team. Aaron, James 2, Dan the Bayern fan, Wala, Vico and new keeper Ivan, we salute you! After a very decent opening 15 minutes we concede from a corner and then go 2-0 down before the break. Another two Barking goals hit the back of our net in the second half as despite some decent footballers out there, we simply didn't click. One of them days. But as is often the case, just getting 11 players together out there on a sunday afternoon with such short notice is a victory in itself and we leave the pitch happy to have found a half-decent new goalkeeper and an energetic and committed new bunch of lads who will hopefully pull on the blood red shirt of Recreativo a good many times to come. Next up, Lyric Celtic at home. The build up to that game begins tonight as the the kit spills out of the washing-machine and is hung, dried and packed away ready for next sunday. Let's be having you....

Team : Ivan the Mexican, Chris Read, Gregg Morgan, Aaron Belfast (James Humphreys), James 2 (John Megaughin), Lee Walsh, Joao Spinola, Russell Smith, Wala Hassan (Daniel Lucht), Nick Candy, Vico Welbeck.

Yavruvatan 5-0 RECREATIVO 27.9.09 London FA Cup Round 2

2009-09-27T06:46:00.000-07:00

Altogether Now

The romance of the Cup drew us northbound, up past White Hart Lane for a morning game, a welcome change from afternoon kick offs in grubby south London. Still, Tottenham High Road does need a makeover and by all accounts will get it soon when Tottenham Hotspur begin to build their new super stadium - think the Emirates in blue. We drive onwards past The Pheonix public house (Kali's second home)

and across Silver Street to Pymmes Park, a beautiful oasis of green in the grey urban sprawl of Edmonton.

It's a gorgeous sunny day, the Yavruvatan manager is putting up the nets and it all seems laid back, a fabulous morning to play a cup game. Despite mates telling us Yavruvatan are a

top side, tough Turkish League winners on numerous occassions - the first half saw Recreativo defend like our lives depended on it. James threw himself into everything, Jimmy Lloyd and Marcus blocked every through ball and Chris was

solid between the st

icks. A couple of minutes until half time and we were already thinking about the possibilities of penalties and another round of cup footb

all. Yavruvatan took the lead with a few minutes of the first half to go, but we kept our heads and got back out to attempt to level the score. As always fitness (or the lack of it) kicked in and the younger fitter opposition increased their advantage with another two goals. Marcus, never shy of a 50-50 ball, landed badly on his arm and the game came to halt as we realised it was a nasty break, his arm and wrist deforming like a scene from American Werewolf In London (when the American tourist collapses behind Jenny Agutter's settee and hands morph into elongated claws). It seems that all of us are on our phones calling for an ambulance, the management of Yavruvatan assisting our distraught player with a shin-pad keeping his arm straight. It's never nice to see a player suffer a horrendous injury, especially one of ours, a founding Recreativo member and popular player. All thoughts of finishing the game disappear as we wait in vain for the ambulance, more and more players from both sides offering comforting words and attempting to keep Marcus's spirits up. The game continues as the paramedics from the ambulance crew arrive and attend our injured player. The final two goals put past us seem pretty meaningless as we hear the final whistle and leave the pitch. A tough encounter today, but a match played in the true spirit of football. Good luck Yuvruvatan in the next round and get well soon Marcus from the entire Recreativo family!

Team : Chris Read, James Humphreys (John Megaughin),Jimmy Lloyd, Marcus du Sautoy, Lee Walsh, Russell Smith, Adam Bradbury, Kali Gregory-Hickling, Abdul Daewoo, Nick Candy.

RECREATIVO 4-7 Shepherds Tuesday 20.9.09

2009-09-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Despite a squad of 18 players, the emails and text messages leading up to this game came thick and fast. "Moving house", "not well", "working", "good luck!". A bloody nightmare if you have to be there, drive the car, carry (and wash) the kit. We send out the call for a ringer or two and John comes up trumps with Ked who travels down from Southgate to make up the eleven. The usual suspects show up at the meet wondering just how many we'd put past our old keeper, now at Shepherds Tuesday. And of course we do indeed put four past him. Problem is we let in seven ourselves in a huff and puff kind of a game. Nothing too exciting to report from the game, bar the decent header Nick scored from a corner, a penalty scored by Joao, a penalty missed by Joao and a debut goal from Ked. One of them days when the football simply didn't click, but we know we'll be back soon and do so much better. We trudged off back to the car, past the giraffe enclosure at the Zoo, eager to seek the Utd-City score (4-3 to Utd with Owen scoring the winner in the 95th minute...bloody hell!). Back home a feast of roast chicken, veg and gravy awaits, gulped down with a lovely bottle of Camp Viejo Rioja. Despite us losing, despite Chelsea beating Spurs on the box, life doesn't seem all that bad.

Team : Chris Read, Kedesh Mather, Marcus du Sautoy, Jimmie Gregory, John Megaughin, Mario Pisano, Adam Bradbury, Russell Smith, Nick Candy, Joao Spinola.

Ladzio 4-1 RECREATIVO 6.9.09

2009-09-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

Young Hearts Run Free

The combined age of the occupants in Jimmie's car on the way home? 179! It's almost the top score in darts! We are once more holding an inquest after what went wrong as we head back to Stokey, scoffing this season's choice of chocalate bar, a Chunky Caramel Kit Kat and wondering where the feeling in our legs has gone. Our strict policy this season is to freeze out the kids, those who neither train, answer emails, text messages and phone calls. Those who stay out all saturday night and roll out of beds five minutes before kick off. So it's down to us veterans to go that extra yard, to grab the Recreativo shirt by the scruff of the neck and

drag it kicking and screaming all the way through to March 2010. It's un-pretty football today, but early days. Both Lee and Jimmy Lloyd stood out today, something positive we can take from the game. And Joao's fantastic header too.

Ladzio. Adam said he didn't like them because they had names like "Biffo". Those of us

who support the red side of Rome are no great fans of the Laziali. But the new boys to this league seemed a fairly decent bunch, despite the Lazio colours.

Away days always include some strange occurance. Today we notice ex-Reccy keeper Steve's car across the road to the changing

rooms. It transpires he's joined Shepherds Tuesday. Even stranger is that he's spotted joining them in a warm up on the adjacent pitch - something he managed to wangle out of, in the six years he played for us! We look forward to our match against them in two weeks time.

And so, not the score we wanted, but that's never really important. A good turn out again, a funny drive home (Mario spotted Beth, Jimmie's 19 year old daughter and asked him for permission to marry her...well, sort of) and sunday dinner, lemon cake and

a gorgeous Rioja waiting at home. Altogether now, "Roma Roma Roma

core de 'sta Citta
unico grande amore
de tanta e tanta gente
che fai sospira...."

Team : Chris Read, Mario Pisano, Jimmy Lloyd, Marcus du Sautoy, Jimmie Gregory, Lee Walsh, Joao Spinola, Adam Bradbury, Tom Lawless (John Megaughin), James Humphreys, Nick Candy.

Lyric Celtic 0-1 RECREATIVO 30.8.09 (friendly)

2009-08-31T01:59:00.000-07:00

Whoop! Whoop! Its da Sound of the Police!

This was a first for Recreativo - our game being stopped in the second half by the police, who wanted to check whether we were wearing studs! I say police, but in truth we thought they were two police impersonators, pensioners dressed in police fancy dress, the park police we guessed, the hardcore. Farcical scenes ensued as we argued with a Captain Manawarring-esque male cop and an antique Juliet Bravo about what constitued football boot studs, moulded, blades and astro pimples. This was the first game Recreativo had ever played together on astro-turf and we didn't think it would cause such a kerfuffle. In the end, two of Lyric Celtic changed their footwear and the match continued, a mighty fine game of football indeed with a real football score at the end of it. 0-1 in our favour, after a fabulous strike by Joe from the edge of the box.

With a handful of players making their debuts, some of our squad playing for Lyric for a half, a dog bursting our best match ball, the police intrusion and general strangeness of being in

a distant part of town again, it felt like another fabulous sunday outing, a top Recreativo away day. We actually played some very good football at times and despite losing some of our younger kids over the summer, our grown up industrious squad will see us through a long season ahead of us. Well played the new lads!

Team : Chris Read, Mario Pisano, Jimmy Lloyd, Gregg Morgan, Jimmie Gregory, Nick Candy, Adam Bradbury, Joao Spinola, Lee Walsh, Onur Uzan, Joe Dunthorne, Alec, James Humphreys.

RECREATIVO 6-6 East One FC 2.8.09 (friendly)

2009-08-02T08:10:00.000-07:00

A decent warm up game this, against a youthful good passing side from the Bangladeshi Football League. Workmate of Jimmie and Kali and good friend of Recreativo, Abdul Koyar, brought his boys over from the East End proper for a very competitive game.

The Marshes looked lush today, sun shining, lots of pre-season matches taking place, it felt good to be back. However Recreativo's five month break certainly showed today as despite going one up, we

were slow to the ball and allowed East One's slick passing to cut through us. Our previous game should of been a warning, a 1-1 draw against our Under 11s!

Fitness. It's always the fitness...or lack of it. Lee made his debut, another positive note, and held his position well on the right midfield - a good debut after racing from Croydon early sunday morning. Another positive was Nick, Joao and Joe all getting off the mark and getting the top goalscorer's race going. A fair result, a decent run out, but we all know we have to step it up with such a hectic schedule about to take over our weekends in the coming months. Good effort lads.

Team : Chris Read, Mario Pisano, Joe Dunthorne, John Megaughin, Jimmie Gregory, Kali Gregory-Hagenstede, Russell Smith, Joao Spinola, Lee Crystal Palace, James Humphreys, Nick Candy.

2009-07-31T02:29:00.000-07:00

Bobby Robson R.I.P. 1933-2009

Recreativo stand with the world wide football family in paying respects to Bobby Robson, England's finest manager for many years who took us so close to the World Cup final 1990. Football has lost one of it's best loved sons. Respect xx

Trophy Presentation 5.7.09

2009-07-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

Blimey! We had our very own San Marino moment as our Under 11s side scored against us in our Trophy Presentation match in Clissold Park. Luckily, Russell's late equaliser managed to save our blushes and we managed to scrape a draw after being made to chase shadows for most of the game by Recreativo Juniors. A trophy ceremony followed, our lot getting a nice little momento for all the hard work of last season. Well done everyone who took part, the kids loved it! A lovely few hours bringing together the Recreativo family. Nice one!

Rio Kaiserslautern 2-1 RECREATIVO 29.3.09

2009-03-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

The clocks have gone forwards ("is that the good one?"), the Recreativo sick, injured or drunk list is unending and to top it all we have to drive to bloody Putney. Oh, and the Boat Race is on, starting from Putney Bridge...

Still, as we have done all season, Recreativo turn out prompt and punctual and we find ourselves in the dressing rooms of Wandsworth Park with an hour to spare before kick off. It's the final game of the season, a campaign that has seen the team reach it's highest position in this league, beat some of the fancied teams and bring together the finest bunch of football comrades that North London has produced.

Russell is hung-over, hands thrust deep inside his leather jacket as we go through our warm up. Bilal's hamstring is strapped up and given him severe gip. Jimmie's cake and wine addiction is showing around his belly. Dario is still in Streatham failing to have changed his clock. The ref is old enough to be ex Reccy keeper Steve Jones's grandpa (as bow legged as Garrincha, but quite endearing despite not keeping up with the game). Still, the sun is out, it's the final game and we put on a decent footballing display.

As usual our football is pretty good. Both James and John have a fine game in our busy backline. Russell and Adam are flying into eveything in midfield and the youngsters charge up and down, skilful, tricky and energetic. We play most of the second half with 10 players, both Jimmie and Bilal hobbling almost as much as the ref. Once again Joao stands heads and shoulders above everyone. There's not a better player in this league. Fact.

Despite Miguel putting us one up early in the second half, Rio get two back and ensure they go on to become champions. As the chants of "Champ-i-arneeees, Champ-i-arneees" eminate from the dressing room, we head back to North London for a well deserved break. Congratulations to Rio on winning the league. However, next season we will come back and really give it a go. It's been a fantastic season for our club and a real laugh at times and ultimately, that's what it's all about. The future definately looks bright for Recreativo FC. Nice one lads!

Team: Chris Read, James Humphreys, Joao Spinola, Jimmie Gregory (Dario Costa), John Megaughin, Nick Candy, Stefan Garcia Fernandez, Adam Bradbury, Russell Smith, Miguel Morales, Bilal Talib Ali.

Shepherds Tuesday 0-1 RECREATIVO 22.3.09

2009-03-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

The dressing room is packed as once again an almost full Recreativo squad turns out for the short trip to Regents Park under another beautiful sunny sky. Greetings are made, hands are shaked as we ready ourselves for this penultimate match of the season. The sun baked pitch brings with it the usual dilemma of studs or astros?, blades or barefeet? as various players change footwear and then stick with whatever they've got on as the ref blows his whistle and the game begins.

We dominated the first half, camped in and around the opposition's box. Dario's persistant and dangerous forays down the left paid dividends and he grabbed a first half goal that was the only goal of the game. Injury saw both Alex and Bilal withdrawn and Lee the Shepherds manager was gracious in letting us bring back on our substituted players to keep 22 players on the pitch. Despite second half pressure, Chris kept a clean sheet and we left the pitch with all three points. With the league positions not having been updated for a couple of weeks we go into the last match not knowing quite where we are in the table, but safe in the knowledge that we're up in the top three. It's been an almost classic season for Recreativo. The football's been great and the squad large, bolstered by a mighty fine group of lads who turn out week after week. Hats off to you all boys! Forza Recreativo!

Team : Chris Read, James Humphreys (Mario Pisano), Joao Spinola, Jimmie Gregory (Joe Dunthorne), Nick Candy (John Megaughin), Stefan Garcia Fernandez, Russell Smith (Adam Bradbury), Alex Fenn, Miguel Morales, Bilal Talib Ali, Dario Costa.

Clapham Alexandra 2-3 RECREATIVO 15.3.09

2009-03-15T09:57:00.000-07:00

Another away day to South London, today in glorious sunshine as golden rays stream down from the heavens above. Bloody marvellous! It feels like summer has arrived and with it brings the business end of our season.. As always, it great to see another really good turn out, the early meet at Clissold Park gets the excitement flowing as we cram into cars and head south. Past the Emirates, down the Cally road, Kings Cross and Blackfriars Bridge - a journey we've taken so many times over the years.
We reach Clapham with an hour to spare, the Common busy as a summer's day. The gorgeous weather makes a much welcomed change from the cold open space of Hackney Marshes and the good spirits flow throughout the team.

Joe bravely volunteers for first half goalie duty, a wise move as the infamous over-sized goals of pitch eight certainly need someone of a tall frame to fill them. He does a sterling job too, despite Clapham finding the back of our net on two occassions in the first half. Alex latches on to a through ball just before half time and we're back in it, 2-1 at the break.

The second half saw Recreativo come out with all guns firing, refusing to be shamed in front of the Clapham Alexandra Wags watching from the sideline. (We'd crumbled 7-0 to the Llamas here earlier in the season, the Llamas's wives and girlfriends cheering them on against us scruffy Hackney lads, a major factor in our capitualation that day!). Miguel got us level and then Joe got the winner, heading goalwards and reeling away in celebration. Fantastico!

A really great performance, a real fight back and in the end a very deserved victory for Recreativo today. Beautiful sunshine, a bloody great game of football and some funny conversations about ex-players made today one of the best sundays out in a long time. On the way home Alex recounted some fine tales of following Reading away on a pre-season tour of Sweden. Chunky Kit-Kats and Lucozade complimented our journey back to Stokey as always. It will be a shame when this season ends. It's been beautiful.

Team : Joe Dunthorne, Mario Pisano, Joao Spinola, Jimmie Gregory (James Humphreys), Marcus du Sautoy, Nick Candy (Stefan Garcias Fernandez), Alex Fenn, Russell Smith, Miguel Morales, Dario Costa, Bilal Talib Ali.

Livingstone Academicals 1-2 RECREATIVO 1.3.09

2009-03-01T11:39:00.001-08:00

This match had been brought forward for an early start as not to clash with the Carling Cup Final - welcomed by most of us who were either off to Wem-ber-ley or thankfully for once could spend the afternoon entertaining the kids at home. There's something special about our away trips. Friendly faces turn up in ones and twos, committed souls who have forgone a decent breakfast and hour with the sunday papers to turn out for Recreativo. A couple of phonecalls prompt even Bilal and Stef out of their beds and by 9.20am we're squeezed into two cars and heading for the right regal Regents Park, picking up Super Mario on the way.

It's always a joy going to Regents Park to play. London Zoo and it's 'Bear Mountain' form a fantastic backdrop alongside the pitches. We parked next to the tapir enclosure, our prescence causing the strange looking creatures to charge around as we empty the car of kitbags and head for the Hub, the UFO looking building that houses both the dressing rooms and cafe. This is everything that Hackney Marshes isn't. It's organised, it's clean, it's the kind of place where you want to play football when you shell out so much money every season on dressing rooms. There's space, there's showers, there's soap, there's toilet paper.

We've had some great games against Livingstone in the past, but felt their Argentina style kit has always given them an advantage. Those light blue and white vertical stripes - a classic kit inspired by the colours of the sky, expansive colours of the heavens, worn by the likes of Messi, Riquelme and the master himself, Maradona. (Kit colour is important. The now defunct Hackney Marshans, perennial Sunday Super-League whipping boys, wore a nasty purple and white striped number and later a brown and cream kit. Ghastly, and surely the real reason they imploded).

An early Livingstone corner and an un-manned Recreativo back post invited them an easy goal. A quarter of all goals we've conceeded over the past six seasons have come from opposition set pieces and corners (something we will definately work on during this summer's training schedule!). Still, Recreativo fought back, playing the better football, Miguel scoring twice and keeping us up there in the top half of the table. Another really great performance from Recreativo.

Those of us who had gone over to Wembley,(£6.10 for a pie! and more whipped up hysteria from the pa announcer than a Smash Hits Poll Winners Party!),came away slightly dissapointed with another cruel defeat at the hands of Man Utd, but bouyed and happy with the result that really mattered, another victory for Recreativo. And this week, for once, the kit failed to make it back to the Gregory household. Result!

Team : Chris Read, John Megaughin, Joao Spinola, Nick Candy, Marcus du Sautoy, Stefan Garcia Fernandez, Adam Bradbury, Russell Smith, Miguel Morales, Dario Costa, Bilal Talib Ali. Subs : Mario Pisano, James Humphreys.

RECREATIVO 0-0 Barking Mad 22.2.09

2009-02-22T08:45:00.000-08:00

A late saturday session along Church Street that took in stops at the Red Lion, Alistairs, the Three Crowns and a early hours boogie in the basement of the Gold Bar was not the ideal way to prepare for this game. However, wolfing down a mega fry up and the final few squares of a family size bar of Galaxy on sunday morning, was a great pick me up. Out to Hackney Marshes for our final home game of the season.

"It's Roma vs Juventus", quipped one of the Turkish boys on the next pitch as we took to the field with a very good turnout and fairly strong looking team. With players back from both holiday and injury, the squad is shaping up nicely and should see us well into the final run in of the season. Although after today's scoreless draw it's looking very unlikely that we'll win the league this time round.

We dominated the first half, carving out chance after chance, only to send every shot high up into the heavens, way over the bar. We did play some half decent football, the team now seemingly brimming with attacking players who are confident, tricky and skilful. Yet we found no breakthrough, even when first a Barking player withdrew injured and then with ten minutes to go two others got sent off for telling the ref to fuck off! In truth we can only stand back and applaud our opposition today for coming away with a point and three of their number off the pitch. We quite like Barking Mad, having always had decent games against them. So that was it. With no Recreativo player able to bury the ball in the old onion bag, no one able to get the better of the Barking defence it was a scoreless draw. A proper football result!

So farewell to Hackney Marshes for another season at least as we look forward to four exciting away trips to the four corners of London and the final few weeks of the Sunday Super League 2009.

Team : Chris Read, Joe Dunthorne (John Megaughin), Joao Spinola, Jimmie Gregory (Marcus du Sautoy), Nick Candy, Miguel Morales, Jamie Harris, Russell Smith, Stefan Garcia Fernandez (James Humphreys), Bilal Talib Ali, Dario Costa.

RECREATIVO 1-1 Sandmere 15.2.09

2009-02-15T10:39:00.000-08:00

The week had been fraught with anxiety as our stand-in ref shamelessley emailed on friday evening, pulling out and letting us down with some lame excuse. Saturday meant another morning of calling round in the desperate attempt to get another man in black. We did. We hired him for the princely sum of £45 cash, but then fired him after Abdul the Geezer rang to say he was now available and would see us pitchside five minutes before kick off. We like Abdul, a larger than life Moroccan cockney geezer, although often wonder why after the dodgy offsides he seems to give against us. After spending saturday afternoon watching Recreativo Juniors under-10s thrash Highgate 6-0, displaying a master-class in step-overs, dragbacks and pass and move and then an evening at Screen on the Green eyes agog at the adorable cast of Vicky Christina Barcelona, the weekend was shaping up very nice indeed. After another Juniors training session early sunday morning, we are finally off to the Marshes again. Bilal, Stef and Miguel are comatosed after a late night teen lager-fest. We manage to prise Bilal out of his slumber and drive off without the others. We are also missing Dario, Marcus, Russell and James today, but depite this manage to put out a really good team.

Sandmere finally turned up and we got on with the game. We have to say, they were probably the best team we've played all season. Although, we've come on in leaps and bounds, a really good game of football unfolded. Chris once again had a great game in between the sticks, certainly a major factor in Recreativo's recent resurgence. Miguel made amends for his no show early morning by getting the bus out to join us for the second half and putting in a really good performance. 1-0 down with a couple of minutes to go Alex cooly stepped up to put away a penalty (after Adam had been hacked to the floor). A good result, a really great effort from all concerned and as the late afternoon rain began to fall, the ref blew full time and we headed homewards. Back home, very fine pork sausages and a mountain of mash potato and gravy awaited. As the dying embers of Derby-Man Utd fizzled out on the telly, it was into a hot bath for a soak and to listen to some old gits ranting about football on the radio. Laying back in the steaming water, a generous glass of dark Tempranillo in hand, it was heaven. A couple of hours later, the Milan Derby was being shown on BBC3. Bellissimo! Beckham vs Mourinho, fantastic ultras choreography celebrating a wonderful city torn apart by red or blue, flares and smoke and drama. A beautiful weekend, sullied only by Mario's green pants that we all knew lay somewhere, deep down and dirty within the Recreativo kit bag.

Team: Chris Read, Mario Pisano, Joao Spinola, Jimmie Gregory (Miguel Morales), John Megaughin (Stefan Fernandez Garcia), Joe Dunthorne, Adam Bradbury, Alex Fenn, Jamie Harris, Bilal Talib Ali, Nick Candy.

RECREATIVO 5-0 The Llamas 1.2.09

2009-02-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

The dark blanket of cloud creeps towards us from somewhere near Leyton. A brooding, menacing sky begins to form strange patterns as if a huge tornado is looming. The biting wind gnashes into bare legs as we await both the Llamas and Abdul the ref. We try to keep warm, the massive open Marshes offering no respite from the bloody awful chill. We attempt a warm up then take pot-shots at Chris, most of which are carried over the bar and across the adjoining pitches. Half past two and we finally kick off and despite the weather, the football is fairly good. Joao sits in at centre-half, a revelation! He sees everything in front of him and dictates and directs, mopping up the loose balls and covering everyone's mistakes. Joe gets his first goal for Recreativo, charging in to meet a corner. New lad Miguel is brimming with attacking skill, taking players on, eager to impress and bags two goals. At half time the sky opens up, blinding snow like flying daggers coming at us horizontally. Bilal steps up and scuffs home a penalty (he'll say he meant it!) and Adam is rewarded with a goal after a chase into the box to meet Dario's perfect cross. 5-0 to Recreativo that some what balances out the thrashing we got from the Llamas earlier on in the season. We leave the pitch still absolutely freezing, but warmed by the fact that we'd just taken part in one of the best performances for Recreativo in our six season's existance. Today it felt like despite the mud, the cold, the filthy kit and running around, everything clicked and being part of Recreativo was worth it all. Satisfied, happy and buzzing, we packed the gear into the car and headed home to the warm. Ahhhh....

Team : Chris Read, James Humphreys (John Megaughin), Joao Spinola, Jimmie Gregory (Stefan Garcias), Nick Candy, Joe Dunthorne, Adam Bradbury, Alex Fenn, MiguMorales, Bilal Talib Ali, Dario Costa.

RECREATIVO 4-4 Jeff's Chippy 25.1.09

2009-01-25T09:36:00.000-08:00

FA Cup weekend. It's wall to wall football from friday evening onwards. In the Recreativo household the channels switch between Sky Sports and Setanta and occasionally to the piss poor football coverage on ITV. When saturday comes a couple of the Reccy squad hot foot up to Old Trafford to sing the praises of Harry Redknapp's Blue and White Army, only to see all hopes dashed by the evil that is Dimitar Berbatov. After the game Kali gets the choice to turn out for the team in the rain and mud of the Marshes the following day or stay in Manchester with a night out with Chester's Youth firm in some northern boozer. He chooses the latter and ends up missing a near classic game against CSSL current champions Jeffs Chippy.

After loading up Nick's motor with all the gear, picking up half the team on the way and sending another car to get the ref from a gridlocked Upper Street, we finally take to the field on a very wet and windswept Hackney Marshes. Despite the conditions the football is much improved from last week. We were joined by new lads Jamie and Miguel, both who made excellent debuts. Dario was once again the golden boy in golden boots charging forward from the left of midfield, never giving up the chase and bagging two excellent goals. Bilal, despite having eight different girls on the go, mustered the energy to weave in and out of the Chippy backline and grab another two well taken goals. We were unable to keep the Chippy out, on erm...four occassions, but in truth, with the weather, the very well paid ref and fitness once more all against us, we felt we had played our part in a very good game of football indeed. Even the Chippy's last minute equaliser didn't take away the fact that we have a really good team now, a great bunch of lads turning out week after week and a positive and bright future ahead. Nice one Recreativo!

Team : Chris Read, Mario Pisano, Nick Candy, Jimmie Gregory (James Humphreys), John Megaughin (Miguel Morales), Dario Costa, Joao Spinola, Alex Fenn, James Harris, Joe Dunthorne, Bilal Talib Ali (Stefan Garcia Fernandez).

Recreativo 2-7 Lyric Celtic 18.1.09

2009-01-18T10:16:00.000-08:00

Richard Dawkins is wrong. God does exist and today he conspired with Lyric Celtic to blow away the clouds and unleash such a blinding ball of sunshine that Recreativo were left chasing silhouettes. Was he punishing us for our Christmas over indulgence? Of for dropping Steve? Visually impaired like the helpless souls of Day of the Triffids, we seemed to charge about the entire second half aimlessley, unable to string more than a couple of passes together.

It had all started so well. Hackney Council had re-booked our pitch, everyone had turned up on time, the opposition were there and even the ref was waiting to get started. Something had to go wrong...

The opening 15 minutes saw us bombing forward, Dario and Bilal eager and tricky around Celtic's box. Joe was making his debut and got stuck in adding pace on the left flank. A goal a piece at half time it was anyone's game. As we came out for the second half we might aswell all have put blindfolds on as the clouds departed, glaring sunshine blinding us. We were unable to make out who was who, reverting to hoofing the ball, panicking and conceeding defeat like a punch drunk Audley Harrison. Chris looked dapper in his tartan deer-stalker cap and despite his dodgy knee pulled off some fine saves throughout the match. Our fitness, and lack of, showed big time in the second half and in truth the final whistle couldn't come a moment sooner. As Celtic's jubilant voices trailed off into the distance we were left to gather the nets and collect the muddy kit and already begin to think about next week. We'll be back and eager to put things right.

Team : Chris Read, Mario Pisano, John Megaughin, Jimmie Gregory, Nick Candy, Joe Dunthorne (James Humphreys), Adam Bradbury, Joao Spinola, Alex Reading, Dario Costa, Bilal Talib Ali.

Recreativo 4-3 Rio Kaiserslautern 14.12.08

2008-12-14T10:03:00.000-08:00

The last visit to the Marshes this year brings with it more heated arguing and dramatics than an omnibus edition of Eastenders. The already testosterone charged area around the car park is taken to new levels today as we arrive to witness a group of referees charging after a player from an earlier match. The player in question was hot footing it away after charging into the referees room demanding an explanation for a minor decision that went against him. The men in black did not take too kindly to him waving his fists around and chased him away. We gradually filter into the dressing room and ready ourselves for kick off. (*It's at this point that some inner-Recreativo politics explodes both in and outside the dressing room. For the good of all concerned we'll say nothing more right now, only that it's probably a very good time to have a few weeks winter break)...

Onto the football. You could feel a collective sigh of despair when the words "there's no Joao today" were muttered. Our most gifted player, Joao Spinola, (Bilal may argue with that) has flu, but we have a fairly decent team out today. From the off we played some decent football. Despite the opposition playing some great passing moves, we managed to stay in there and find a rhythm of our own. Dario bagged the best goal scored in a Reccy shirt this season, a delicate drag-back, a turn, a shimmy past two defenders and a thunderous strike past Rio's keeper. Brilliant. Beautiful. Fantastico! Russell's work rate in midfield was rewarded by two goals and another for the golden booted Dario sealed a well fought and well deserved win for Recreativo. Once again, all over, everyone gave their all. That's four wins on the bounce against very good sides.

We shake hands with Abdul, our larger than life ref and wish him happy Christmas. We traipse back across the mud to load the car with the filthy kit and nets and grab some bacteria burger from the chip van. As darkness envelopes the car park the word goes round that the earlier incident involving the referees and angry player has escalated and turned nasty. Within minutes the police arrive and set up a road block, hundreds of tired and muddied sunday footballers corralled in as they try and arrest the idiots who attacked the ref. A police helicopter hovers above us, more flashing blue lights along the Eastway. It's surreal. It's crazy. It's another episode from the strange and wonderful days out with Recreativo!

We eventually get home and load the washing machine with kit, a process that usually takes two days of washing and drying. Hopefully by tuesday it will all be folded and put away ready for the next match. Until then, enjoy the Christmas break...a well deserved rest for Recreativo. Nice one.

Team : Chris Read, Mario Pisano, John Megaughin, Jimmie Gregory, Nick Candy, James Humphreys, Adam Bradbury, Russell Smith, Alex the Reading Fan, Bilal Talib Ali, Dario Costa.

RECREATIVO 6-0 Shepherds Tuesday 7.12.08

2008-12-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

It's half hour til kick off and the geezer at the bookings office is still reluctant to give us the key to the dressing room, his colleague busily sweeping out the mud and filth from this morning's fixture. Another chaotic episode at Hackney Marshes, the spiritual home of football. We squeeze in with Shepherds and it's all elbows and arses as both teams struggle for space to get the kit on. The pre-match nerves are always infused with a great excitement and once outside we are eager to whizz through our warm up and get on with the game. Despite some of us being up since 3am (watching a jaded Oscar De La Hoya getting taught a boxing lesson from Manny Paquiao), Russell having a severe hang over and Alex still putting his kit on as the ref blows the whistle, we're all well up for this game. The first half sees Recreativo pass the ball beautifully, in and around the opposition's box. Dario, Kali, Bilal and Alex maintain possession and unleash another attack. It's Total Football today against a side who've had the better of us over the past few seasons. 2-0 up at half time and the team talk is simply "more of the same". Keep possession, close them down, score more goals. Simple. Another four goals in the second half, Chris saying he's bored in goal with nothing much to do and that was that. Overall, a superb result, a very enjoyable game and Dario, Joao and Bilal move up the top goalscorer table (another two each). Recreativo are on a roll, just in time for the visit of high-flying Rio Kaiserslauten next week. Bring it on!

Team : Chris Read, James Humphreys (Mario Pisano), Nick Candy, Jimmie Gregory (John Megaughin), Marcus du Sautoy, Kali Gregory-Hagenstede, Russell Smith, Joao Spinola, Alex the Reading Fan, Bilal Talib Ali, Dario Costa.

Dave Pain aka 'Big Dave' R.I.P.

2008-12-01T09:37:00.000-08:00

It was with great sadness that we recieved the news that our old mate Dave Pain, a.k.a. Big Dave, passed away on tues 25th Nov. All the Recreativo old boys will recall the great games we had in Clissold Park over the years, Dave always eager to play his part come rain or shine. Despite having issues with his health, Dave always enjoyed his football with us and was always made to feel part of the fantastic sunday morning kickabouts from which our team today was born. Always smiling, always the first to turn up (in his infamous luminous green goalie's top so you could see him from miles away!), Dave added a very special warmth and humour to our competitive sunday morning affairs. He proudly donned the Recreativo shirt for the Clissold Cup and often came over to Hackney Marshes to watch the games.

Our heartfelt sympathies go out to his family and everyone who knew such a lovely geezer. Rest in peace big fella! Recreativo F.C.

RECREATIVO 4-3 Clapham Alexandra 30.11.08

2008-11-30T10:15:00.000-08:00

After a heavy early morning downpour and having been trampled by hundreds of eager footballers already this morning, it's lucky there's any grass left on the Marshes to play on. The usual chaos ensues as a Recreativo advance party surveys pitches further away, "more grass!", "not so boggy in the middle" come the cries as the rest of us carry the kitbag and nets trying to keep up, hot footing from pitch to pitch. After picking up Abdul, the cockney Moroccan referee in Islington and having rushed like maniacs to make the kick off, we've now lost him and Chris is sent back the half mile walk to the dressing rooms to find him. Clapham have rung us to say they're changing pitchside (whichever pitch that is!). We've told them to look out for our yellow shirts with red shorts, as another team in those exact colours rush past us and into the distance. Various other players pass us, feet in plastic bags like casualties from Goose Green. Looking traumatised and confused, they desperately search for their team mates or make sense of the pitch number along the sidelines, now eroded away by muddied boots and rain. The latecomers arrive and Dario realises his brand new gold boots are both left-footed!
When the game eventually kicks off, the football is good. Despite the conditions, both teams enjoy a great game of football. Chris has been a revelation in goal and new boy Alex a brilliant addition to the team. The goals come from the Portuguese wonder kids today - Joao rising high to head in two and bend another in from a free kick. Dario strikes later on in boots a size too big for him and secures all three points for 'tivo. At the final whistle we wrestle with wet kit, nets, and bags and pile back into the cars for the drive back home - another great game, another fantastic result. Back home it's Chels-Arse on the box, beef lasagne and a bottle of rioja. How else could we possibly spend our sunday afternoons?

Team : Chris Read, James Humphreys (Jimmie Gregory), John Megaughin (Dario Costa), Mario Pisano, Adam Bradbury, Marcus du Sautoy, Joao Spinola, Russell Smith, Alex Reading FC, Bilal Talib Ali, Nick Candy.

Jeff's Chippy 1-4 RECREATIVO 23.11.08

2008-11-23T09:33:00.000-08:00

Half hour before the meet and the dreaded sound of sunday morning text messages begins. Dario's not coming. Alex is still in Reading. Everyone else wants to know if the game is actually still on as overnight, London is pierced by an icy dagger of freezing Atlantic wind-chill. It's snowing, turning to hard relentless and very cold rain. It's horrible and we have to get down to Clapham Common for a probable mud-fest against the current League Champions. Fingers crossed it's off....

Our old left back Matt, is spotted going off to get the sunday papers and says he plans a day in front of the radiator, drinking coffee and keeping warm. We pretend to him that we'd rather be out in the foreign surrounds of South London, sloshing about in freezing rain, flying the Recreativo banner and fighting the cause for the good people of Stoke Newington. The phone goes again; Daniel's out with us today, Joao is back from injury and Russell's back in the frame. All of a sudden the team is shaping up nicely, the sun is fighting it's way through the darkened heavens and we're making good time on our journey south. And then unfolded quite possibly one of Recreativo's finest games in our six years together. We had shape, we had a target man up front (Nick), an assured goalkeeper (Chris) who's confidence flowed up through our backline and into the rest of the team. We had two ball winners (Marcus and Russell) who added a steeley edge to our progressive play. And we had goals, goals, goals! It had taken a while to click back into the kind of form that saw Recreativo go on such an impressive run last season, but boy, we were flying today! Yes, the crossbar saved us a couple of times, aswell as Chippy's poor finishing (and their penalty skied eight yards over the bar), but today Recreativo earnt and deserved those precious three points, without doubt the best team on the park. Now is the time to build on this result and push up that table...Recreativo big up yer chests!

Team : Chris Jones, Mario Pisano, John Megaughin, Jimmie Gregory (James Humphreys), Marcus du Sautoy, Adam Bradbury, Joao Spinola, Russell Smith, Daniel Hall, Nick Candy, Bilal Talib Ali.

RECREATIVO 1-6 Livingstone Academicals 16.11.08

2008-11-16T10:19:00.001-08:00

Flashing blue lights, an ambulance in the car park, or is it cops? The council geezer behind the front desk has his head in his hands and is refusing to give out the keys to the dressing rooms. Our allocated changing room is occupied by a gaggle of rude boys in no mood to rush, so we share a muddied corner by the fire exit with a group of Jamaican lads, kit, nets, clothes and kitbags strewn all over the place - everyone fighting for a few inches of space to get undressed. Livingstone, no doubt used to the the smoothly organised and relatively calm surrounds of Regents Park, are squeezed into the room next door. With the noise, the chaos, the abbatoir-like shower block in the middle, this place feels like a bloody cattle market at times! Outside the car park is chocka like usual. A slow crawl of souped up Boy Racers exit the driveway, making way for the afternoon cavalcade as another few hundred working-class boys make their way in, ready to do battle and play out their football dreams on this hallowed muddy place. The burger van does a brisk trade, hungry mouths greedily scoff down the very un-Jamie Oliver swill that we tend to swallow when we're at our most vulnerable...worn out and starving hungry! (Has anyone checked out if they sell Chunky Kit Kats yet?) It's a busy afternoon at Hackney Marshes, matches stretching as far as the eye can see. The hollering and screams, the delight and horror of goals scored and conceeded, are carried by the wind across the open spaces. Recreativo voices are no doubt carried by the breeze across the south Marsh and heard the other side of the River Lea, as another goalkeeping blunder of Hurhelio Gomes proportions lets forth a communal terrifying team scream! The 26th goal scored against us in our last five games leaves most of us to look down at the mud in the vain hope that the pitch would open up and swallow us whole. We lose 6-1 and cannot face the walk back to the dressing room. The light begins to fade. Only the slow drone of traffic along the Eastway breaks the silence. Grey clouds. Shell shock. Football death.

Team : Steve Jones, Mario Pisano, Marcus du Sautoy, Jimmie Gregory, John Megaughin, Chris Read (James Humphreys), Nick Candy, Adam Bradbury, Alex, Bilal Talib Ali, Dario Costa.

Barking Mad 3-2 Recreativo 2.11.08

2008-11-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

From our match report Sept 10th 2006/7 season: "..It's 2-2 with 30 seconds to go. Despite the black and white stripes of Barking Mad playing like some post-Moggi Juventus, they step up like the Old Lady of old and some bald Vialli-look-a-like smashes the ball into our net with the very last touch of the game. Bollocks!". Fast forward two seasons and it really is deja vu. Same place. Same team. Same result. Same game thrown away in the dying seconds.

We had started brightly, new signings Dario, Alex and John getting involved from the off. It was good football from both teams. We always like playing Barking, always quite gentlemanly affairs, competetive but fairly played by both teams (mostly). Despite no sleep, all night drunkeness, and a rude awakening from the management, Bilal looked a threat every time he got on the ball. His tricky efforts paid off with a brilliantly lobbed goal.

Now, the over-sized frame of the Clapham Common goalposts have never been kind to us and neither the under-sized frame of our much loved 'keeper. We turned down the chance to sign an ex Bath University 6ft+ goalie over the summer who'd have surely tipped the first two Barking goals over the crossbar. Steve simply ain't tall enough. Still, what would Recreativo be without our long serving man between the sticks? (Yes, I know, higher up the table! Boom-boom!).

James the Monkeyhanger came onto the right flank second half, but was forced back by the Temuri Ketsbaia lookalike, probably our oppo's oldest, yet definately best player. Alex scored a belter of a goal, both the ball and last Barking player hitting the back of the net. Norman, the ref, decided from his unique position on the half way line it definately did not cross the line! Dario was then up-ended a good 5 yards in the penalty area, again Stormin' Norman deciding from 40 yards away it was two inches outside the box. That's sunday football. That's grassroots footy with no linesman, no Sky cameras catching everything, no action replays. Despite, giving the game away in the dying seconds, Mario tried to lift us with his "come on boys, we played some good football". And we did. A bad result, but a much improved performance. It's a cliche, but in the end, it's what really counts. Next up, Livingstone Academicals. All roads lead back to Hackney Marshes... JG.

Team : Steve Jones, Mario Pisano, John Megaughin (James Hartlepool), Jimmie Gregory, Nick Candy, Stefan Garcia Fernandez, Adam Bradbury, Chris Read, Alex, Bilal Talib Ali, Dario Costa.

Sandmere 7-3 RECREATIVO 19.10.08

2008-10-19T10:52:00.000-07:00

"What's going wrong? What is it?", asks a bewildered Recreativan. "Fitness..", comes the reply as we greedily tuck into our king size Magnums, Chunky Kit-Kats, Chilli Heatwave Doritos and fizzy drinks on the way back home. We are squashed into the warm car and heading back to Stokey, the sugary post match rush of chocolate soothing the emptiness of our defeat like a big mummy blanket that will make everything feel alright. It sometimes feels like this is exactly why we come out on a sunday, the southbound drives across London, the anticipation, the banter, the chocalate. If we really let anything so trivial as the actual score of the game get in the way, we'd have given up years ago.

The build up all week had just been about getting 11 players out today, with families, work and Spurs playing in Stoke conspiring to whittle down our squad to nine. John and James stepped in to make their Recreativo debuts, aswell as Dario who had come to watch, but ended up playing the second half for us, saving our blushes by scoring two great goals to at least make the scoreline a little better than last week.

Bilal, once again, done a sterling job up front, hustling and tackling, taking players on and holding the ball up. If we can persuede Dario to make the long trek up to Hackney Marshes we may just have a superb future front line there.

We just weren't at the races today. Out of shape, disjointed and fragmented. As soon as we cleared the ball from our half we were charging back to face another Sandmere attack. Wave after wave. But hey, who really wants to read anything about the actual football in a football report? Another fine Reccy day out on an autumnal Wandsworth Common. Despite the result, a good laugh with a great bunch of mates. J.G.

Team : Steve Jones, Mario Pisano, Marcus du Sautoy, Jimmie Gregory,
John Megaughin, Nick Candy, Joao Spinola (Dario), Paolo Cardoza, James the Monkeyhanger, Bilal Talib Ali, Chris Read.

The Lamas 7-0 Recreativo 12.10.08

2008-10-12T09:42:00.000-07:00

Kali has rung from Leicester Square mumbling something about a kebab at 3am. Ben's not been heard from all week. Daniel's been called in by WH Smiths and Russell's scuba diving in Thailand. Bilal's been partying through the night and both Joao and Marcus are recovering from flu. The rest of us all seem a little worn out for some unexplained reason. At least the sun is shining, a beautiful autumn day to accompny us as we snake down through Blackfriars and onto our well travelled route to Clapham Common. And for once, the other team were already there, changing into their yellow kit which made them look a little too like Villareal for our liking. We tried to imagine them as Norwich, just to give us a psychological advantage.
What happened to that fantastic football we had played in our previous ten matches? It was like the Recreativo of many moons ago today, as we sluggishly tried to make inroads into the Llama's half. We booted the ball skywards, both Bilal and Stefan (not really the tallest two players on the pitch)were too easily knocked off the ball by the four six footers in a well drilled Llamas defence. After conceeding two fairly early goals we saw another slip through our keepers fingers and were left a little shell-shocked by the scoreline. Some days you can try and analyse what went wrong, pin the blame on somebody. But we held our hands up today, collectively as a team and simply acknowleged we were outdone by a better team. If we don't win headers, don't make tackles, are second to every loose ball, we will not win football matches. We had to laugh afterwards when one by one, we admitted that what made it worse was losing in front of a bevy of pretty Llamas WAGS. Each of them had cheered and hollered as the slightly fitter Llamas had executed another Ronaldo-esque stepover along the touchline, just like a bullring full of Iberian beauties who "Ole!" the strutting matador as he thrusts another sword into a defeated and bloodied beast. It was good natured, but was bloody horrible! Maybe it's time to ask our Recreativo girls to come out and support us, lipsticked and gorgeous at Hackney Marshes? What will it take to jolt us out of a complacent display like today? Time to lick our wounds, re-group and come out fighting next week with much sharpened horns?

Team: Steve Jones, Mario Pisano, Marcus du Sautoy, Jimmie Gregory, Nick Candy, Stefan Garcia Fernandez, Adam Bradbury, Joao Spinola, Chris Read, Bilal Talib Ali, Kali Gregory-Hagenstede.

Lyric Celtic 1-3 Recreativo 21.9.08

2008-09-21T09:59:00.000-07:00

Clapham Common 10.30 am

With the Chelsea-Man Utd game on the telly this afternoon, it looks like Sky is even dictating the kick off time of this, our first league game proper of the season. The morning is beautiful. Autumn leaves caress the edge of Clissold Park, sunshine breaking through the trees as we pile into the Recreativo cavalcade. We tell Nick to follow the fug of fag smoke billowing from Steve's car as we head south to Clapham Common and into the darkness of the sheds, other teams already spilling out into the september sunshine and out onto the long grass. From what we recall, we've always had a few bust ups with Lyric, on field shenanagins that have sullied a good afternoon's football. However, with a new guy in charge and half a new team, our opposition today just get on and play football. Which is exactly what we've come to do after driving half way across London..again..
Recreativo put in 100% effort today, from the early start, the well drilled warm up and the determination to get this season off to a winning start. We were rewarded with 3 first half goals, but in truth, after a few inch-wide misses, a penalty skyed and a disallowed goal (poor Mario!), we could of gone home 5 or 6 up.
A great performance all round. On this evidence, a top three finish this season lads surely?

Team : Steve Jones, Mario Pisano, Marcus du Sautoy, Jimmie Gregory (Stefan Garcia Fernandez), Nick Candy, Chris Read (Adam Bradbury), Joao Spinola, Russell Smith, Daniel Hall**, Ben Corlett, Bilal Talib Ali*

Sandmere 2-3 Recreativo *friendly

2008-09-16T06:11:00.000-07:00

Battersea Park 2pm 14.9.08

We maintain our 'most punctual team in the league' tag, a badge of pride for our well organised and eager football entourage every sunday afternoon. Despite two hours already spent with our junior team, we make it, more or less, on time for the meet and snake our way down to Battersea Park for today's friendly. We're already in kit, out on the pitch and waiting for the other half of Sandmere to show up, which allows us a decent time for a vigorous warm up, a piss in the bushes and a few minutes to marvel at the full-on fairground and dog show going on along the touch line. These pre-match kickabouts can always be a valuable ingredient to our great forays into South London. A good laugh. A time to gossip and mess about. A time for banter and piss taking. A little bit of fun before the seriousness of the match explodes across the pitch and the shouts and screams and tackles and barging and charging about
squeezes your chest and gives you that gorgeous adrenalin fix. Aahh! Sunday football...
And good it was too. Our pre match workout, our punctuality, our teamtalk and effort paid off today as we beat a side who we had never got the better of before. Nick Candy had a great debut in front of our defence. Daniel grabbed another two goals from midfield and Steve had a Gordon Banks moment a few minutes from the end which ensured a victory for the boys from Hackney.

Team : Steve Jones, Mario Pisano, Marcus du Sautoy, Jimmie Gregory (Paolo Cardoza), Nick Candy, Daniel Hall**, Joao Spinola, Russell Smith, Chris Read, Ben Corlett, Stefan Garcia Fernandez (Bila Talib Ali*)

2008-04-01T02:18:00.001-07:00

Central London Sunday Super League AGM 2008

Jimmie and Kali represented Recreativo at the League's AGM held on May 1st. Over a good few beers, the managers appointed a new League Chairman, discussed rule changes and welcomed a new team, Lamas FC, into the League for next season. The foundations for season 2008-9 were well and truly laid. We will shortly be collecting signing on fees from all players for next season and will announce summer training get togethers very soon.